NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 4 – National hockey league side DFG Wolverines need to rack up wins as soon as possible if they are to survive the chop in their maiden campaign in the top tier.
The league newbies could only muster a 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers Amira Sailors over the weekend and coach Dennis Owoka could not help but express his disappointment.
“We really expected to win this game…we really needed the win because we dropped points to Blazers in our previous game. As it stands, we are placed in the mid-table and it doesn’t look very good for us,” Owoka said.
Lack of squad depth – a persistent headache for many teams in the league – once again proved to be the main undoing of both sides in this weekend encounter.
“It is a major problem getting the players to practice together because some are based in Eldoret, others come from Meru so it is a difficult to get the tactics right. It’s tough…we understand the situation. There’s nothing we can do about it. The few times we play together we try to work together as a unit,” the former Butali Sugar coach said.
Juliet Achieng put the Wolverines in front in the 42nd minute but the lead only lasted two minutes before Leah Omwandho levelled matters for the visitors at the stroke of half time.
The stalemate left both teams’ chances of survival hanging by a thread but regardless, Owoka insists they will fight tooth and nail to dine with the crème-de-la-crème of Kenyan hockey.
“When we started the season, we wanted to garner as much points as possible to ensure our survival. We are much safer being in the top half of the table and are open to recruiting more players. Hopefully, when we survive relegation, we will be able to do that and become strong,” he said.
He added: “Our defence is strong but the problem is that age is catching up with them. However, you cannot just replace especially when there are no quality players in the market to perform at the same level.”
In the opposite dugout, Sailors’ team manager Collins Asimba, described the result as fair despite remaining slumped at the bottom of the standings.
“It is a good result because this is our eighth game and the first time we have scored. Our aim is to build up and improve…we need to work on our finishing because we are goal-shy and are not taking our chances when we get them,” Asimba said.
He bemoaned the lack of a proper training facility for the side, which has hampered their ability to execute their game plan effectively in a match setting.
“We are training on a half pitch and then when we come to a standard pitch such as City Park, we struggle to string passes. That is something we are looking into with the management to see that we find a proper pitch to train on in the next season,” he said.
