After
a fairytale run in this year’s edition of the CECAFA Club Championship in
Tanzania, Gor Mahia, jetted back into the country on Monday night, heads held
high but crest-fallen! The Green Army must hold its held high as it ran against
all odds, went past the preliminary stage and all the way to the final, where
they fell to a more polished Azam side! Un-expected performance by Frank
Nuttal’s charges as few except themselves gave them a chance to put up such a
sterling show. Remember, last year, Gor Mahia could not even win a single match
and unceremoniously bowed out in the group stage. However, in the just
concluded regional club tourney, Gor Mahia nearly did it! Losing gallantly in
the final is no mean achievement! Gor Mahia deserves all accolades in Kenya,
even from their sworn rivals in the Ingw’e den!
Frank
Nuttal’s boys must be crest-fallen because they slipped in the last hurdle.
From dismissing home club with a near-fanatical following; Yanga in their opening
match, K’Ogallo simply steadied its ship and convincingly swept aside opponents
as they matched to yesterday’s final. A polished Azam side, under the tutelage
of the respected Stuart Hall, backed by the vociferous home crowd inside the
National Stadium, simply took its chances, through talismanic skipper John
Bocco in the first half and midway through the second half, after a sublime
curling free-kick from Ivory Coast import, Tchetche. The second goal simply took the gas out of
Gor Mahia and despite trying their best, the likes of Michael Olunga, Godfrey Walusimbi,
Meddie Kagere and Innocent Wafula could not find the target!
Since
1985 when Gor Mahia defeated their local rivals, AFC Leopards to lift a sixth
regional diadem in Sudan, the wait has been long and painful! Even sad is the
fact that K’Ogallo has dominated Kenyan football for the last three years,
lifted the Kenya Premier League (KPL) twice in 2013 and 2014, and are poised to
do it this year, but have failed to take this scintillating form to the
regional tourney! Yesterday, was a glorious chance for The Green Army to lift
the CECAFA Club diadem for the seventh time. However, it was not to be after
falling to Azam Fc, and the Green Army family will have to wait longer!
Losing
in the final is heartbreaking. It hits hard on the faithful club supporters and
Jaro Soldier and his ilk must be mourning on the final that fate and
footballing gods conspired to deny them! But it is even harder on the players.
The fa t that Gor Mahia nearly won it but lost in the most important 90 minutes
in Tanzania, must have broken the hearts of the committed Green Army players!
But with the great hearts that pushed them from the whipping dogs of CECAFA
Club 2014 to the losing finalists a year later, will surely lift them up. Back
home, Gor Mahia’s unbeaten 25-match run is no fluke. The team chemistry and
understanding that this team has put on in the local scene is un-matched, from
rivals Ingw’e to big boys like Tusker Fc, military side, Ulinzi Stars and
Sofapaka, no one matches Gor Mahia. Still perched on top of the league with
three matches in hand, K’Ogallo is all but poised to defend its KPL crown! This
will be a third time running!!!
Back
from Tanzania, Gor Mahia will jet in with the painful consolation of a runners-up
medal. But their talismanic goal-poacher, Michael Olunga won the Golden boot
with five goals and even three assists to boot! Shot-stopper, Boniface Oluoch,
despite being guilty of easily conceding the second goal in yesterday’s final,
won the Golden Gloves prize! Good bits of consolation to The Green Army for
their near-flawless football in Tanzania and a performance that was only
blotted in a nail-biting finale against home-boys, Azam! The Green Army may
have lost in the final but won in many other ways, psychologically, against
football pessimists and in Olunga and Oluoch!
No comments:
Post a Comment