The milk derby

BY JAMES WAINDI 

Thika residents should brace themselves for a busy Sunday as thousands of Gor Mahia fans – the Green Army – storm the town for the Milk Derby, pitting hosts Thika United and K’Ogalo at the Municipal Stadium.

Both teams are sponsored by dairy companies with Brookside being the main sponsors of Thika United, while Tuzo are the sponsors of Gor Mahia.

The derby has always produced explosive matches, but Gor have emerged the winners in their last four encounters.

But Thika coach John Irungu is this time keen on ending the trend. His prediction for the match is that of fireworks and K’Ogalo will return home limping without any point.

“Last season, when Gor beat us 1-0 away. I was just one day old in office and they struggled to beat us, scoring in the 86th minute. I don’t think they will be lucky  this time,” said Irungu, who took over the Thika club towards the end of last season.

He added: “A win will be good for our motivation and I am confident we will stop Gor on Sunday, because I have a unit and not individual players like Gor.”

Irungu said his boys would not be intimidated by the huge crowd expected at the match, noting that they will be 11 against 11 on the pitch.

“We are also not cowed by Gor’s huge spending during the transfer season, because my players are equally as good if not better than K’Ogalo’s. In fact, someone like Yusuf Juma, who is one of their major signings, was an average player here last season and sometimes missed the first team,” said Irungu.

He added: “We have had a good pre-season and we can’t wait to start the action. We are aiming at top eight finish this season and remember the first position is also in the top eight.”

Gor’s Cameroonian coach, Annaba Awono, is also worried of the threat posed by their opponents, but is keen to avoid a disappointing start to the season like last season.

Last season Gor lost their first match 3-0 to Rangers and Awono is not ready for a repeat of that.

He has, however, been struck by a number of injuries that will force him to look for options in some positions.

“Thika is a good side and we know it is going to be a tough match. We, however, want to have a winning start to the league campaign which will build our confidence as we eye the title,” said Annaba.

Gor will miss the services of strikers Baldwin Ngwa, who has failed to recover from a thigh injury, Edwin Lavatsa, who has a knee injury, and Dimonde Selenga who is nursing an ankle injury.

 “My striking options will now be on Hugo Nzangu, Tony Nyangor and John Kiplangat, because George Midenyo had also received a knock, but Musa Mohammed is back after an injury scare last week,” Awuono said.