Gor Mhia still unbeaten

Gor Mahia maintained their unbeaten run to 15 as they added giants Tusker to their causality list, picking an important 1-0 win at the Moi Stadium in Kisumu yesterday.

Francis Kimanzi’s Tusker were happy to sit back and soak up pressure, occasionally pushing forward to attack dead balls. However, somebody had to blink and it required a temporary loss of focus on Tusker defence to change the game.

That came in the 78th minute as Meddie Kagere sneaked in to head home a cross from Burundian Karim Nzigiyimana to see the mighty K’Ogalo move to 39 points and in pole position of retaining the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) crown.

The magic moment came just three minutes after coach Frank Nuttal had brought in Innocent Wafula for Godfrey Walusimbi.

Wafula collected a pass from the Burundian, controlled it and returned the favour before Nzigiyimana dropped his cross behind the Tusker’s central defenders James Situma and Donald Mosoti to pick out Kagere inside the six-yard box.

As Kagere rose to head the ball, the entire stadium was on their feet in anticipation and he did not disappoint, scoring the only goal of the match. Gor thus ended their drought against Tusker to register their first win in five encounters.

As the match started, it was Tusker who put Gor’s defence of Nzigiyimana, Abouba Sibomana, Musa Mohammed and Haron Shakava on the back foot, but they took the challenge in their strides.

But just two minutes into play, Tusker captain Jesse Were almost scored after he was put through by Kevin Kimani, but Boniface Oluoch was fast to block the shot with his legs for a fruitless corner.

Were continued to torment Gor’s defence, but his strikes were either off target or easily dealt with by Oluoch.

In the earlier match, visitors Ushuru braved a late surge from host Western Stima to secure a crucial 1-0 win.

With the match headed for a barren draw, Ushuru’s Allan Kateregga rose high to score from inside the six-yard box with a header after connecting well on a cross from Moses Odhiambo in the 80th minute to beat Gabriel Andika in goal.

In Muhoroni, Chemelil Sugar were held to a barren draw by Muhoroni Youth who were smarting from last week’s away 3-1 drubbing by Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).

Chemelil Sugar counter-attacked through the duo of Meshack Karani and Daniel Mutahi.

In Nakuru, visiting Mathare United were forced to a barren draw by Nakuru All Stars at the Nakuru’s Afraha stadium. Peter Okidi’s boys played well with accurate passes but poor finishing cost them the match.