Gor in wonderland as fans scent record-extending 22nd title

“Our boys showed up today, and we are very happy. Their mental toughness showed today. Our lead had been cut from four points to one point, and had we slipped, we would have been losing it. I am impressed my boys could contain the pressure because others have cracked in situations like that,” said Akonnor as he closed his car boot after putting inside it his duffle bag, possibly heavy with the three points his team had just bagged.

Read: Gor Mahia close in on 22nd league title with 3-1 win over Murang’a Seal 

Gor Mahia had turned on the style in the second half after the first half ended 1-1.

Murang’a Seal’s captain, striker Joseph “King Joe” Waithira, had equalised for his team in the 35th-minute with a rocket shot that capped a textbook route-one move initiated by Wilson Ngamau’s long goal kick.

Gor Mahia’s number 22, forward Samuel Kapen, assisted by Shariff Musa, had opened the scoring in the 18th minute after beating Murang’a Seal’s offside trap to put himself one-on-one with Ngamau, whom he floored before nonchalantly chipping the ball over him.

Murang’a Seal players protested Kapen’s goal, arguing he was offside. Their protests almost led to a brawl between the two teams, with Gor Mahia’s assistant coach Bismark Kobi-Mensah having to be held back from confronting Murang’a Seal coach Dennis Odhiambo.

When the second half resumed, there was no holding Gor Mahia back, particularly their lively winger Shariff Musa. Musa, perhaps energised after halftime refreshments and snacks, darted across the whole pitch at high speed like Sonic the Hedgehog, creating all manner of problems for Murang’a Seal’s overwhelmed defence.

Musa’s industry was rewarded in the 51st minute when knock-ons by Frank Odhiambo and Ben Stanley Omondi looped Kapen’s long throw-in to his path to volley the ball into Ngamau’s bottom right corner. Musa celebrated the goal with a “shush” gesture aimed at the loud Murang’a Seal fans, and in the 77th minute, he had Gor Mahia fans up on their feet again in jubilation after his pass found substitute Ebenezer Kofi Assifuah-Inkoom, who stumbled as he rounded Ngamau to tap the ball into the net for Gor Mahia’s third.

Read: Gor Mahia edge Kakamega Homeboyz 1–0 to stretch league lead to nine points

Assifuah, who joined Gor Mahia in mid-season, has been decisive for K’Ogalo from the bench, scoring all his six league goals so far as a substitute. Five of the Ghanaian’s six goals came in matches where Gor Mahia salvaged a draw or snatched a victory, further amplifying his impact and having Gor Mahia fans wonder why he does not start matches.

“It is all about managing him. When we play a team that likes to possess the ball like Murang’a Seal, it means we have to do a lot of pressing. That kind of game does not suit Assifuah and that is why he starts from the bench sometimes to save his energy,” Akonnor said on why Gor Mahia’s number 30 mostly plays the last 30 minutes of matches.

Yet, Murang’a Seal were not passive. Their captain, Waithira, led their defiance. His grass cutter from a free kick in the 57th minute forced a nervous catch from Byrne Omondi. Lucas Maina’s tireless pressing kept Gor Mahia defenders on their toes. Gor Mahia’s centre-backs Frank Odhiambo and Michael Kibwage also had to put in a shift with last-ditch tackles and interceptions, which they celebrated like they had scored a goal.

Assifuah would have finished the game with two goals, as would have Kapen, but the offside flag and the post denied them their braces, respectively.

The twinkle-toed South Sudanese Jackson Dwang would have also got on the scoresheet after coming from the bench. Dwang and Kapen had toyed with the Murang’a Seal defence in the 88th minute, leading to the former Posta Rangers midfielder slipping the ball between Ngamau’s feet before the goal was ruled out for a foul on Joseph Omulama in the buildup.

Still, it did not matter. By that time, Gor Mahia fans were in a carnival mood – singing, dancing, waving flags, and fizzing beer cans open. In the VIP section, Gor Mahia’s patron Eliud Owalo provided entertainment by doing celebratory push-ups.

In the final minutes, Enoch Morrison, Gor Mahia’s Ghanaian midfielder who watched the match from the stands as he served a suspension, kept adjusting his cap over his dreadlocks as he nervously waited for the full-time whistle.

When the full-time whistle finally came, joy exploded all over and with it came pandemonium.

Gor Mahia’s vice chairperson, Sally Bolo, was already on the pitch with a Cheshire cat smile and open arms, eager to hug the first person she met wearing the club’s colours. Soon, she and the players and the technical staff trooped to one corner of the stadium for song and dance with the fans. Gad Mathews, Gor Mahia’s substitute goalkeeper, danced around the running track carrying a substitution board displaying the number “22” in green. Morrison followed him, happily shouting possibly the only Kiswahili words in his vocabulary – “Ni mbaya! Ni Mbaya!” (It’s deadly! It’s deadly!).

Giant speakers procured to provide public address services became busier than ever. They switched between amplifying Ali Kiba’s and Bien’s ‘Finale’, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji’s ‘Unbwogable’, Iyanii and Dufla’s ‘Donjo Maber,’ and Odongo Swagg’s ‘Nyasembo’.

The loud music made the post-match interviews an exercise in futility, and a pitch invasion by over-the-moon Gor Mahia fans made efforts by journalists, other than the league’s official broadcasters, Azam, to interview Akonnor impossible.

The fans mobbed Akonnor and his players, giving them a heroic escort to the dressing room. Gor Mahia’s lanky defender Sylvester Owino, who featured in the match as a substitute, had his energy preserved for the next match as a pint-sized fan carried him shoulder-high from the pitch to the tunnel.

At the tunnel, security had a hard time preventing the excited Gor Mahia fans from following the team to the dressing rooms, but the self-proclaimed Gor Mahia “bishop” Joseph Sudi somehow found his way there, where he was spotted patrolling the corridor with pious purpose as he munched a banana, possibly replenishing his energy for duty against Mara Sugar next weekend.

Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier, also revelling in the K’Ogalo wonderland, left the dressing room with a satisfied smile after meeting the players and the technical staff. The club’s 22nd league title will take the number of trophies Gor Mahia has won during its 18-year reign to 22.

“Our fans have been marvellous. They always come in large numbers to support us. We now understand very well that they do not like losing. We are almost there now,” Akonnor said of Gor Mahia fans, who cannot be faulted for believing the match against Mara Sugar next weekend is already won.

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