Gor Mahia gored again as Sserunkuma rues missed chances

KIGALI, RWANDA: Gor Mahia hopes of sailing through to the quarter-finals of the Cecafa Kagame Cup hangs by the thread after a second loss of 1-0 against Atletico of Burundi at the Nyamirambo Stadium in Kigali.

Atletico’s Alexis Hakizimana silenced the sizeable Gor Mahia fans when he beat the offside trap to score past a charging Jerim Onyango in the 73rd minute to secure the win and boost their chance of a last eight slot.

Gor Mahia now must win their last two group games against APR of Rwanda on Friday and Telecom of Burundi on Sunday if they are to sail through to the last eight.

It will be Dan Sserunkuma, however, who will bear the burden of the loss should Gor Mahia depart the tournament earlier as he wasted two clear chances in the first half to get  a good result. On both case, he failed to beat Atletico goalkeeper Kandolo Akimana.

Sserunkuma was put through in the 30th minute and despite rounding up the defence, he failed to chip the ball past the diving Akimana in goal for a fruitless corner.

Sserunkuma was to blame again in the 42nd minute after he failed to beat Akimana in goal as Gor attacked on the counter.

The match had started slowly and it was Atletico, who were the first to get their groove on, limiting K’Ogalo to long passes.

Just five minutes into play, Atletico captain Francis Nongwe had a first shot on goal after Fabrice Sinyikayo set him up.

However, the ball went wide.

It was Atletico again who looked threatening as Noah Akanakimana and Tresor Akimana dominated the midfield, forcing Gor to backtrack and clear any danger at their goal.

Gor Mahia had its first shot on goal in the 18th minute from a corner kick in which Haron Shakava headed wide. Gor then took control of the affairs as Sserunkuma tried running behind the defenders.

In the 20th minute, Gor almost took the lead as Joseph Kariuki long shot toward an open goal from a rebound hit the crossbar and went out. Atletico goalkeeper Akimana had come out of goal to block the first shot from Timothy Otieno.

As the game progressed, Gor Mahia secured the midfield with Geoffrey Kizito and Collins Okoth standing tall. This however did not disturb Atletico as they defended in numbers.

Gor Mahia coch Bobby Williamson said: “We still have a chance despite the loss. We will review our system and change the game.”

He added, “Their linesman was to blame. Their goal was offside but we can still qualify.”

Meanwhile, in a bid to promote women’s football in the region, the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association is planning to organize the first ever women’s tournament in 2015 that will attract at least eight countries.

According to the Cecafa vice president Lawrence Mulindwa, the regional football governing body plans to use this as an avenue for the women’s teams to gain exposure as well as play against different opposition.

“All the countries in the region have women’s teams so we want to organize a tournament that can bring them together in a competition that will eventually promote the game in East and Central Africa,” explained Mulindwa in an exclusive interview with supersport.com.