NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 8 – Kariobangi Sharks head coach William ‘Kanu’ Muluya believes Nzoia Sugar can go all the way and win a first-ever Kenya Premier League title if they maintain their current belief.
The league’s surprise package continued their fairytale run atop the log with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over the slum boys in an early kick-off tie at Utalii Grounds on Wednesday, courtesy of a Joseph Mwangi brace and a Collins Obanda own goal.
“We lost against the league leaders and as you can see today, it is not by fluke they are leading the log…it is not by fluke that Mwangi (Joseph) is playing well for Nzoia. There is a belief in them that they can have the ball, they can score when you make a mistake and that’s what they did. I can only wish them well for their next matches,” Muluya said.
It could have gone differently for Sharks who began the match on a fiery note, taking the lead in the ninth minute via Keith Imbali who fired into the bottom right corner after a neat interchange of passes between Tyson Otieno and Matthew Kibiwott on the left wing.
The ‘Eastlando’ side kept upping the pressure on their visitors from Bungoma and winger Paul Odhiambo would have inflicted more damage had he selected to pass to Kibiwott before the millers’ backline recovered to avert the danger.
Nzoia were not to be undone and showed exactly why they are the talk of the country as they went frantically in search of an equaliser.
Mwangi’s shot midway through the first half was deflected to end narrowly for a corner whereas Sharks’ custodian John ‘Toldo’ Otieno was lucky to see his misplaced pass skied over the bar.
The millers continued their onslaught after the interval although Sharks could have extended their lead had Nzoia keeper Humphrey Katasi not been alert to parry away Timothy Ekhavi’s shot.
It would prove a timely save as a minute later, Mwangi levelled matters after latching onto a delightful lobbed pass from Kevin Juma to divert the ball past ‘Toldo’ into the net.
Fans barely had enough time to absorb the turn of events before Mwangi turned up with a second goal, nicking in between Ekhavi and Dan Guya to slot past the keeper.
The millers’ right-back Kevin Maliachi cemented the three points when his low cross was deflected into the net by Obanda in the 73rd minute.
Commenting on his charges surrendering their lead, Muluya admitted that their defensive frailties is a huge source of headache for him presently.
“Defensively (that’s our main undoing) because we conceded two goals in two minutes. We are one of the best scoring teams in the league with over 22 goals but then again you cannot be the best scoring team and yet concede the same number of goals. What do I need to do now? Maybe get some experience in the backline or work harder to improve my defence,” he said.
‘Composure was crucial’
The winning coach, Salim Babu, admitted that conceding an early goal was his worst fear coming into the match but applauded his charges for sticking to the game plan.
“Our plan was to start fast off the blocks but unfortunately they scored an early goal and that was a problem for us. At that moment, we had to maintain our composure and not get carried away. I told the boys that if they stuck to the game plan, kept the ball in their own half then there was a good chance we could come back into the game and win it,” the former Kisumu All Stars gaffer said.
Despite sitting pretty at the top with 31 points, Babu is however cautious enough to not declare Nzoia as title contenders, insisting that it is one game at a time for the side.
“I believe it is possible to maintain that position (top of the league) so long as we continue playing well and winning our matches. It is a great feeling because that is what we wanted coming into this game,” he said.
The former Sony Sugar coach also pointed out that Sharks are a very dangerous, attacking side who can cause a lot of damage to an opponent’s backline if given space to dictate proceedings.
“In the first half, they were very relentless. We told each other that we needed to deny them space and string passes and try and catch them on the transition. That is what we did and I am glad that it worked,” Babu said.