BEATING CONTINUES: Heartache for Mururi’s Chemelil as Sofapaka grind out victory at Afraha

chemelil vs Sofa Paka
.Chemelil sugar players confront referees at Afraha stadium in Nakuru following a stand-off between Sofapaka which won 1-0 aganist them PHOTO:BONIFACE THUKUCaption

Chemelil Sugar suffered their second consecutive home defeat at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru, falling 1-0 to Sofapaka in a Kenyan Premier League match, yesterday.

Chemelil were coming off a 4-1 thrashing ten days ago at the hands of Gor Mahia at the same venue.

And yesterday, there was no respite for the sugar millers as Sofapaka earned the all-important goal in the 32nd minute via Herman Wasswa’s chipped effort.

Chemelil goalkeeper Fredrick Onyango will, however, rue his terrible misjudging of the trajectory the ball took - perhaps thinking it would loop over the bar only to see it nestle in the net just behind him.

The manner he conceded the goal will sure add injury to coach Mike Mururi’s men forced into exile from Moi Stadium, Kisumu, which is undergoing repairs to fix the perimeter fence.

“We hope the Kisumu Stadium will be ready in time for our next home match,” said Mururi, who has seen his side slump to 12th on the KPL log with 15 points and a negative goal difference of 8.

Chemelil Sugar face Tusker FC on Sunday in Nairobi.

Chemelil did show some guile and resilience though after falling behind only to be met with equally outstanding defence marshalled by Collins Sivachi. In a match characterised by some brutal tackles, Sofapaka midfielder Ekhaliani Ndolo will consider himself lucky to stay the course of the match as he came in for several reprimands by the referee.

Chemelil went agonizingly close to levelling matters three minutes after restart when Joseph Kariuki’s effort whizzed past the upright with Sofapaka’s goalkeeper David Okello beaten. Daniel Mutahi should have done better three minutes later but failed to apply the killer touch from a neat cross when put through.

Mururi made two changes as the match wore on sending in Dennis Onkangi and Alloice Mangi but the substitutes would not change the course of events.

Despite the victory, Sofapaka coach Sam Timbe was not carried away by the result insisting his outfit had not found their rhythm especially after the departure of his key players such as Fiston Abdul Razak who left for South Africa PSL side, Mamelodi Sundowns.

“It is evident my players are yet to fully gel together after departure of my key players.

It is to be expected, but hopefully everything would take its course,” Timbe said.