Gor Mahia exit Confederation Cup

By GILBERT WANDERA

For the second time in less than three years, Gor Mahia have failed to go past the first round in the Confederation Cup tournament after going down 1-0 to Ferroviario de Maputo at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Following the loss on Saturday, Gor go out on a 4-0 goal aggregate as they had lost the first leg 3-0 in Maputo three weeks ago.

Hopeful Gor Mahia fan was not so lucky at Nyayo National Stadium as K’Ogalo lost to Ferroviario de Maputo of Mozambique in a Caf Confederation Cup, on Saturday [Photo: Stafford Ondego/Standard]

Everything that could go wrong went wrong for Gor. First, Victor Ali failed to convert a penalty in the 14th minute after Ibraimo Pilate had brought him down. The loss seemed to have taken out the team’s fighting spirit.

The penalty loss will haunt Gor Mahia because it could have been the turning point in a match they were required to win by more than four goals to proceed to the next round.

This was also the second time in a row that Gor were losing a penalty after midfielder Collins Okoth failed to convert a late penalty the team got against Muhoroni Youth three weeks ago in their Kenyan Premier League match and should worry the club’s technical bench.

Gor started Saturday’s match with great determination and the huge turn out of their fans was always going to be a great motivation.

Moses Odhiambo had a clear chance in the second minute and forced a save from Nelson Logomate in the visitors’ goal. But when Ali lost the penalty, it seemed to take away something from Gor as they were out of the match with the exception of a Dan Makori effort in the 29th minute.

This was quickly cancelled out by Ibraimo Pilate’s stunning shot, which beat Jerim Onyango from long range for the visitor’s only goal.

Gor got more punch upfront when Baldin Ngwa came in for Dan Makori with the Cameroonian forcing a save from the opposing goalkeeper with his first touch of the ball.

Both teams had a fair share of scoring chances in the dying minutes of the match with the two goalkeepers being forced to make great saves.

New Gor Mahia coach Bobby Ogolla said his players may have been intimidated and penalty loss was discouraging.

"We started very well and were focussed on overturning the huge loss. When we lost the penalty, my players seemed to be afraid and lost the fighting spirit. I’m glad we can put this behind us and focus on the KPL," he said.

In 2009, Gor were eliminated from the competition by APR of Rwanda.