City lose to Tusker

By GILBERT WANDERA

Defending champions Tusker won their first match of the season by stopping Nairobi City Stars 2-1 at Nyayo National Stadium.

Both teams did not create many chances in the first half, which duly ended without any side scoring. The brewers once again had to come from a goal down to collect three points after Dan Serunkuma had put Nairobi City Stars ahead with a beautiful volley in the 54th minute. Serunkuma scored from a counter attack after Obadiah Ndege had failed to tap home a Paul Were’s effort one minute earlier.

The goal spurred both teams into action but it is Tusker who pressed more in search of the elusive equalizer. Coach Sammy Omollo brought in Jerry Santos in midfield and it immediately paid off with plenty of balls ending in their opponents half.

Nairobi City Stars finally caved in to pressure in the 60th minute when former Gor Mahia defender Francis Akango fouled Obadiah Ndege in the box and the brewers were awarded a penalty, which Noah Abich calmly slotted home for the equalizer.

City Stars defense appeared to be crumbling after conceding the equalizer and fumbled at every Tusker attack. It remained a question of when rather than if the second goal was to come.

Goalkeeper Ronny Kagunzi fumbled with every Tusker cross and he was partly to blamed for the second goal which Paul Were scored four minutes after his side had equalized.

Good recovery

City Stars appeared to have recovered well from the set back and were in charge of proceedings for the better part of the second half. However, they could not penetrate the Tusker defence line.

Tusker coach Sammy Omollo, who did not have most of his regular players due to injury said: "This was an important victory for us. It starts us off well in our bid to retain the KPL title."

Omollo regretted the absence of key players but at the same time praised his new signings for putting up an impressive performance. He singled out former Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) striker Obadiah Ndege for giving them more punch upfront.

City Stars coach Gideon Ochieng felt the penalty awarded to Tusker was a bit harsh but nonetheless said he had come out with valuable lessons from the match.

"We are not demoralized by this loss because it has helped us understand our weaknesses. There are 29 matches to go before the season ends so we do not give up," he said.

The will boost Tusker ahead of their CAF Champions league match against APR of Rwanda next weekend in Nairobi.