Kenya Police coach Salim Babu reveals how he g*********n league leaders K’Ogalo

Kenya Police head coach Salim Babu has revealed his game plan that saw his side beat Gor Mahia 3-1 and end their 19-game unbeaten run in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League on Saturday.

In the fixture at Police Sacco Stadium, the law enforcers found themselves trailing after Austin Odhiambo had put the reigning champions ahead but second-half goals courtesy of Kenneth Muguna, and a brace from Tito Okello (both former Gor Mahia players), ensured that they carried the day.

Speaking after the game, Babu said he was not worried even after Gor Mahia took the lead with only six minutes played insisting he knew his side would eventually beat the champions owing to how he had asked his players to tackle the game.

“I took my time to study Gor Mahia’s previous matches, I knew how they play and we spent most parts of last week planning on how to beat them, and the key focus was on keeping the ball and finishing, we worked on that because we knew it is what we could count on and I am very pleased it worked to our favour,” said Babu.

On conceding the goal in the sixth minute, Babu said: “It was a bit early to concede but I asked my players not to panic, I told them to stay focused and it was not a problem, it was only six minutes played and we also had our chances to score, we only needed to stay patient and take our chances, and we did it very well.’

He added: “I was not too worried (Gor scored), I knew we would beat them if we took our chances and it worked for us.”

Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry was left frustrated on how they conceded the second goal and further admitted his side was not good enough, especially in the second period.

He said: “We just were not good enough in the second half and Police scored. The third goal, we were pushing for the win. 2-1, 3-1, what difference does it make? The second goal, was a little bit frustrating as it was scored from the near post and the first goal, we just need to cover it better. Our winger needs to be coming on the blind side (and help defend it better).”

The win helped Police to move fifth on the table with 33 points while Gor Mahia remained top with 43 points. Meanwhile, Gor has explained why their lead striker Benson Omalla will not move to Algerian outfit JS Saoura.

Omalla was scheduled to sign for the North Africans giants until the of the season after the two clubs had agreed on the short-term transfer but the deal hit a snag owing to the timing and logistical problems.
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier, however, absolved the club from reports that they were to blame for the transfer failing to materialise insisting as a club they did all what was required to help Omalla join Saoura.

“We signed everything for Omalla when they came asking we release him, his agent and his dad were the once, who requested us to help the player leave and we did exactly that, we signed everything as required,” said Rachier, adding: “As a club we did the needful for Omalla to leave.”

According to Rachier, the two parties had already agreed that Gor Mahia will pocket USD2000 (approximately Ksh3.2million) from the deal while Omalla was entitled to a full furnished house, a car and Ksh1.8million salary while at the club.

“Though we signed for the player to leave we were also shocked that the player himself was not aware of the deal,” added Rachier.