GOR MAHIA IN NEAR MISSION IMPOSSIBLE IN RWANDA!

After two disappointing losses in the Confederation of Eastern and Central Club (CECAFA) championship in Rwanda, Gor Mahia, fondly referred to as K’Ogallo stare at elimination in the face, pointless and winless after two games! An opening loss to Uganda’s Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA), despite going ahead in the first half and Monday’s 1-0 loss to Burundi’s Atletico, have  put the Kenyan representatives in the awkward situation of must win! Worse still, they come up with Rwanda’s APR, the team that drubbed them 5-0 in the 2009 African Champions League in Nairobi! History may not have a place when the ball rolls out onto the field, but with all due respect, Gor’s mediocre performances in the competition inspire little hope and gets even worse, now that they are to face a team that humiliated them on home soil!

On paper, the only game that they stand to win is against Djibouti’s Telecom, a team that came into the championship as the group’s whipping boys. However, they upset the form book by edging out KCCA 2-1, and now stand a better chance of advancing, than our Gor Mahia! Bobby Williamson’s charges failed to pick themselves up from the first match loss, and went on to lose the second match to Burundi’s Atletico, despite dominating large periods of the game, and saw an ever reliable Dan Sserunkuma squander an open chance before Atletico, netted the solitary goal. 

The next two matches are must wins for Gor Mahia. They must avoid defeat and get a draw and a win at the very worst, and cross their fingers that other results go their way. However winning the two games and comprehensively so with a healthy goal aggregate is the best option to live longer in the championship. If Gor find it hard against Rwanda’s APR and Djibouti’s Telecom, then they should not be disappointed. They plotted their downfall by failing to win in any of the two opening matches. Fate and footballing gods have not conspired to eliminate them, but the players have. 

However, if they summon their energies and register wins in the last two matches, then it will be a welcome relief to Kenyan football fans, who have gone for seven years without seeing a local club rule the region. The last time was in 2008 when Tusker Fc under the tutelage of Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee lifted the CECAFA Club championship in Dar, Tanzania.

K’Ogallo may progress past the group with two wins, but going by their mediocre and pedestrian performances in the matches against KCCA and Atletico, they may not live long in the championship!