Omala ends goal drought to hand Gor Mahia crucial win

Top scorer Benson Omala Saturday ended his seven-match goal drought as champions Gor Mahia bounced back to winning ways with a slim 1-0 victory over Nairobi City Stars in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) match held at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County. 

Five matches were held on Saturday at different venues across the country, with newcomers Murang’a Seal ending their 11-match winless streak with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bidco United at SportPesa Arena in Murang’a. 

Earlier at Kenyatta Stadium, Posta Rangers bounced back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Ulinzi Stars, while visitors Bandari defeated bottom-placed Nzoia Sugar 2-1 at Sudi Stadium in Bungoma. 

Shabana’s woes persisted with a 1-0 loss to Kenya Police at Police Sacco Stadium. 

With K’Ogalo having slumped to a wrenching 3-1 loss to Police and drawn 0-0 with Ulinzi in their last two matches, coach Johnathan McKinstry was under pressure to bring the skid to a halt.

He perhaps drew inspiration for redemption from Gor’s 4-1 win over City Stars in the first leg. But it was not going to be easy this time around, since Simba wa Nairobi had emerged as their closest challenger for the title. Ahead of the match K’Ogalo led with 44 points while City Stars were second with 39.

Omala, who last scored in the 2-2 draw against Nzoia on December 9 last year, put early smiles on McKinstry’s face with a fifth minute strike from Shariff Musa’s pass. At the end, it made the difference in the match, cementing Gor’s lead with 47 points as City Stars slipped to fourth with 37 points. 

Omala now tops the scorer’s chart with 10 goals, two more than his closest challenger Tito Okello of Police. 

"What happened is a thing of the past now and I'm focused on scoring and winning the league with Gor Mahia. I don't need to mourn forever because my transfer failed but to work hard and get even a better deal in future," said Omala on his botched loan move to Algerian topflight side JS Saoura two weeks ago.

"Even in the games I didn't score, I gave my best and will always do that. That is the situation now and I’m very happy to have scored again. My aim is to continue with this momentum," he added.

"Gor didn't overpower us, though they were better in the first half and we came up stronger in the second half. We even missed two clear chances to score but all in all we had a good game even if we have lost," said City Stars coach Nicholas Muyoti.

At Police Sacco Stadium, forward Felix Oluoch’s 43rd minute penalty is all Rangers needed to complete a double over Ulinzi after they won the first leg match 2-0. Ulinzi, who have not had a good run so far are 12th with 25 points.

Meanwhile, defender Robert Mudenyu’s seventh minute goal left Seal supporters all smiles as they had not tasted victory since they stunned visitors Tusker 2-1 on November 11 last year. After a dream start to life in the top flight league, Seal have seen their fortunes dwindle, leading to the sacking of coach Gabriel Njoroge. 

In 11 matches where the newcomers failed to taste a win, they registered six losses and drew four times. New coach Abdallah Juma, who took over from interim coach Dennis Okoth has vowed to change the team’s fortunes. 

David Okoth's 11th minute goal helped Police return to winning ways against Shabana. The law enforcers who drew 0-0 with Rangers last weekend are sixth with 34 points while Shabana remain second from bottom with 18 points. 

Saturday results 

Posta Rangers 1 Ulinzi Stars 0

Murang’a Seal 1 Bidco United 0

Nzoia Sugar 1 Bandari 2

Nairobi City Stars 0 Gor Mahia 1

Kenya Police 1 Shabana 0