Ingwe claw Nzoia as Tusker, Bandari drop points
AFC Leopards, on Saturday, made a solid return to action in the Football Kenya Federation-Premier League following a 1-0 win over Nzoia Sugar FC at Ruaraka Stadium.
Caleb Olilo’s solo effort in the first half was enough to take Ingwe to second on the log with 32 points as they seek to clinch the elusive title after two decades.
In a cagey fixture, coach Ibrahim Shikanda made a number of tactical changes in a bid to punish the Leopards particularly at the closing stages of the match but Nzoia strikers failed to convert golden opportunities into goals.
There was, however, a glaring show of lack of match fitness from both ends as no football had been played in the country for the past two months.
In an earlier encounter, table toppers Tusker FC only managed a paltry one point in their duel against another contender KCB in their goalless draw at the same venue. The point was a sigh of relief for the Bankers’ coach Zedekiah Otieno who was more tactical in his approach despite losing Curtis Wekesa to a red card in the 67th minute.
It was, however, another game of missed opportunities with Luke Namanda and Henry Mejja’s notable efforts going fruitless.
Down at the Coast, Bandari FC had to stage a come-back to tie with visiting Bidco United 1-1 in another Premiership encounter. Bidco captain Stephen Waruru opened the scoring in the 68th minute through a spot-kick but Bandari’s danger-man William Wadri cut out the opponents’ advantage through his own penalty in the 78th minute.
In Kisumu, hosts Western Stima tied 1-1 with visitors Posta Rangers. Stanley ‘s Rangers broke the deadlock as early as the third minute through Francis Nambute’s great strike and 14 minutes later, Ugandan import Junior Mukisa equalized after a great delivery by Juma Yusuf.
