Minutes before the final whistle blew at the Dandora Stadium where KCB were taking on Gor Mahia in a highly anticipated midweek fixture on Wednesday evening, a couple of KCB players stood in the center of the field exchanging high fives as medical personnel attended to Gor keeper Gad Mathew who had sustained a serious-looking injury after bravely punching Herit Atariza’s in-swinging delivery amidst oncoming traffic.
From the stands, it looked like a celebration of getting the job done for the Bankers as the game soon ended 0-0, their unbeaten run remaining intact after six games (W4 D2) having managed to hold the defending champions.
The result also meant they maintained their position at the top of the table, in fact opening a three-point gap after second-placed Kariobangi Sharks succumbed to defeat against Bidco United in an earlier match.
But all through the game, the Patrick Odhiambo-coached side, who went into the match as one of the remaining four unbeaten sides and on the back of a four-match winning run, failed to display any characteristic fit for their position as they sat deep from the first minute to the last as Gor bossed possession.
While they ended up getting a couple of attempts on target compared to a toothless Gor who did not make any of their vast possession count for anything, the Bankers showed too much respect to the defending champions, reducing the game to a one-sided affair.
At the end of the match, even the Bankers head coach was left in a thankful mood after his team escaped with a point.
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“The match has been really difficult and we thank God for the one point. The opposition (Gor) was heavy, so we are grateful to God that we came out with a point,” he remarked.
“We had two open chances unlike them who possessed but did not have any clear chances. When you sit back it is not being defensive, you create spaces and at the right time you attack those spaces. It is not defensive, it is a gameplan,” Odhiambo colorfully described his team’s tactics.
On the opposing side, Gor assistant head coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno laid everything bare about how the game was.
“You could see only one side wanted to play football today,” he noted.
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In the match, it is KCB who had the first sight on goal in the 19th minute but Maurice Ojwang could not just connect with a teasing cross that just whisked in front of goal.
Seven minutes later, the match witnessed perhaps its clearest chance when Gor striker Gedeon Bendeka robbed KCB keeper Farouk Shikhalo off possession only for the DR Congo international to sky his effort much to the disappointment of the K’Ogalo faithful.
There was nothing to write home about as Gor lacked the clinical edge to turn their dominance into a victory.
The result leaves Gor in eighth place on 7 points after three games (2W 1D).
