By James Waindi

Former league champions and Football Kenya Limited (FKL) Cup champions AFC Leopards will remain in top flight football after all.

Leopards, the only other community club in the Kenyan Premier league (KPL apart from Gor Mahia, were relegated from the league to seasons ago. They were on the verge of another drop this season after occupying the last spot of the league for the entire first leg, but completed their late recovery with a barren draw against 2006 champions Sony Sugar at the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday.

In an earlier match at the same venue, it was a clash worthy of any cup final, when Gor Mahia and KCB locked horns in their penultimate KPL fixture.

Duncan Owiti, 19, came off the bench to hit two late goals and earn K’Ogalo a hard-fought 2-1 over KCB in an early kick-off at Nyayo Stadium as K’Ogalo seemed to heading for their second straight defeat after being shocked by relegation-threatened Bandari 1-0 in Mombasa last weekend.

Leopards’ fans and players can now afford to pop the champagne after evading the axe by a whisker since they have 31 points from 29 matches and with two teams to be dropped from the league, they are certain of avoiding the chop with a match to go since bottom placed Agro Chemicals and Red Berets cannot catch them even if they won their last matches by 20 goals.

AFC Leopards midfielder Itubu Imbem shields the ball from Sony’s Benjamin Oketch in a KPL match at Nyayo Stadium, on Sunday. Photos: Stafford Ondego/Standard

Agro has 23 points but with two matches to go, but even if they win all the two matches they can only pick a maximum of 29 points, which is two points shy of Ingwe’s tally. But if Berets beat last year’s champions Mathare United on the final day, they would only end the league on 30 points.

Leopards created a glut of chances but their finishing which has been a problem the entire season was faltered once again as they blew clear-cut chances.

Congolese striker Itubu Imbem forced Sony’s custodian Evans Omondi to a fine save with the match’s first realistic chance in 30 minutes, and Omondi was again called into duty four minutes later when he parried away Dennis Mukhaisi’s point blank shot.

Leopard’s defence stood firm on Sunday and thwarted numerous attempts by Sony’s Dennis Onkangi, Jack Omondi and Steve Biko and caught the Sugar Millers on counter but Mukhaisi’s effort came off the post in the 70th minute with the stubborn Omondi well beaten.

"It has been a long and tough road to survival, at one moment it looked like we were headed for the axe, but inside me I knew this was a good team and it deserved top flight football and we have proved it.

I would also like to attribute the feat to our loyal supporters who have been with the team through the good and bad and without them I don’t know if we could have made it," said coach Nick Yakhama.

Against KCB, Gor Mahia displayed their giant killing instincts as they came from behind to deservedly win 2-1.

National Under-17 captain Eugine Asike opened the scores for the bankers in the 57th minute, connecting Geoffrey Maina’s cross with a volley, but substitute Owiti beat an offside trap to level the scores with his second touch of the ball, looping the ball over an advancing custodian Daniel Oluoch.

Owiti was at it again in the added time as he tapped in a loose ball from a goalmouth melee to improve their campaign of finishing the league in third position.