Shabana stun Nakumatt in FKF Premier League

Nakumatt FC Kennedy Odinga(R) and Sunday Wambua of Shabana FC struggle for ball possession during their Football Kenya Federation Premier League at Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos on Sunday 15/02/15. Shabana won 1-0.PHOTO.BONIFACE OKENDO

Shabana marked their return to the top flight football with a narrow 1-0 victory over hosts Nakumatt in yesterday's opening match of the 2015 FKF Premier League season at the Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos.

The 18-club league kicked off despite the unresolved stand-off over league expansion between the federation and the Kenyan Premier League Limited, whose league starts this weekend.

Nakumatt FC player Isaac Mutanga gave Shabana the lead on the half hour mark after he scored into his own net in an attempt to clear former AFC Leopards utility player Augustine Etemesi's cross.

The hosts could have gone ahead first in the 15th minute, but John Njoroge blasted his shot wide from a close range following Peter Nzuki's corner.

And just after the opener, the Gusii-based outfit made a double substitution with Titus Achesa and Francis Ocholla replacing Nelson Mong'are and Cain Okeyo respectively.

With less than three minutes to the break, Nakumatt captain Peter Nzuki's had a chance to level the score after dancing through Shabana defence but a feeble shot at Chamcham Kaskile couldn't beat the keeper.

The Jani Giovani trained side came out looking completely re-energised searching for an equaliser in the second half with substitute Cornelius Juma and Jimmy Bageya fashioning a couple of opportunities but Shabana resilient defending denied them a goal.

Bageya could have made it 1-1 in the 75th minute but his effort in the area was blocked by a defender before Juma's shot went wide.

Shabana Assistant coach James Omondi couldn't hide his joy dedicating the win to their fans.

"This is a quickly assembled squad. We haven't trained for a couple of days but the boys have delivered good results. There's no star players in the team, we are just determined to win. We dedicate this victory to our fans, they really pushed us. We are waiting for fixtures, but our aim is to survive and see what happens," said Omondi.

His Nakumatt counterpart Kelvin Obwanda blamed wasted chances for the defeat.