It is difficult to ignore Tusker FC’s lanky striker Ryan Ogam in a crowd. Standing at five feet six inches, the 22-year-old literally stands tall in the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL).
But he is also head and shoulders above the competition when it comes to scoring goals for his team.
He has found the back of the net 13 times, nearly double that of his nearest opponent in the race for the 2024/2025 FKF-PL Golden Boot award. The lanky striker is on course to achieving his target of scoring at least 15 goals in the first leg of the season.
On Saturday, Ogam was on target for the 13th time this season, helping 13-time Kenyan champions Tusker FC beat bottom-placed Posta Rangers 3-1 at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County.
Afterwards, Ogam spoke of his desire to add to the tally in subsequent matches.
“When we started the season, my target was to score 10 goals. Now that I have surpassed that, I would like to end the first leg of the season on 15 goals,” Ogam, who was on November 29 named Tusker FC’s player of the month of November, told Nation Sport.
On Saturday, he was also named Tusker FC Fan Player for the months of November and December, adding another feather to his cap. Ogam, a defensive midfielder-turned-striker, has been a major revelation for Tusker FC since joining the club in August from National Super League team Rainbow FC.
He has scored spectacular goals, and boasts three braces and a hat-trick so far in the league. His closest challenger in the race for the 2024/2025 FKF-PL Golden Boot award, striker Francis Kahiro of KCB, has scored eight goals.
“I have been working on my physique. I am adjusting to the league, and I am surely moving forward. I will certainly be able to cope up well with the league,” said Ogam
His coach Charles Okere shares in his optimism, and is happy with the striker’s work ethic.
“The way you train is the way you play. He (Ogam) is training well, and scoring goals in training. He is aggressive, and he has the energy and the will. Definitely he will get more minutes moving forwards,” coach Okere observed.
Ogam’s team Tusker has three matches left before they can conclude their first-leg campaign in the season. While KCB and Tusker have each all garnered 27 points, the bankers are ranked first on the standings table, thanks to a superior goal difference from 15 matches.
On Saturday against 10-man Rangers, Tusker scored two other goals through captain Charles Momanyi, and Tom Teka added the third. Posta Raners, who are last with just 11 points from 14 matches, had taken the lead through Ivan Ochieng earlier on in the match.
In other matches played on Saturday, KCB maintained their lead in the standings with a hard-fought 4-3 win over newcomers Mara Sugar at SportPesa Arena in Murang’a County.
Sofapaka FC also bounced back to winning ways with a 2-0 romp over Bidco United at Dandora Stadium, while Mathare United hit Shabana 1-0.
