That was a poor show, says Kerr: Gor coach praises Leopards, warns his players

Coach Gor Mahia FC Dylan Kerr (left) has a word with his player Mohamed Musa before kickoff of their KPL match against AFC Leopards at Nyayo National Stadium on Aug 27, 2017. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The tactician has blamed his team for not giving their ‘A’ game in Sunday’s match.

Gor Mahia head coach Dylan Kerr has conceded that AFC Leopards frustrated his team in Sunday’s 1-1 Kenyan Premier League ‘Mashemeji’ derby draw at Nyayo Stadium.

The league leaders (44), who are six points clear at the top following a 1-1 stalemate between second-placed Sofapaka and Posta Rangers on Saturday, came into the derby on the back of a five-game winning streak.

The thrilling derby was characterised by defending errors that saw both goals scored in 15 minutes.

K’Ogalo captain Musa Mohammed deflected Samuel Ndung’u’s cross into his own net in the 22nd minute before Ingwe’s new tormentor-in-chief Meddie Kagere capitalised on Musa Mudde’s poor defending to equalise.

However, a resilient 13th-placed AFC Leopards and coach Robert Matano’s tactical approach couldn’t go unnoticed as they won praise from the Briton, who blamed his players for a casual display.

“I have been in charge of many derbies before, but this was my first in Kenya. AFC brought a totally different game from what I saw here on Thursday against Tusker.

“They were slow, but credit to their coach. He probably set them up to make us look ordinary,” said a visibly frustrated Kerr after the match.

“Since we are leading in the league standings, everybody expects us to win these games easily. Maybe we came into this game thinking we are top and AFC are 13th but in derbies, such things don’t count.

“AFC came to the party ready for the derby. All credit to them because they battled hard and frustrated us. Our final touch is really costing us, we are not killing teams as expected,” he said.

“It is criminal that players, who showed me in training that they have the ability to cross the ball, couldn’t do it. We were second best in the first half.”