Shabana enjoyed their first taste of the SportPesa Derby as they claimed a narrow 0-1 victory over Murang’a Seal in a Saturday FKF Premier League match staged at the SportPesa Arena.
Having become the latest football club to join SportPesa’s list of sponsored clubs after Gor Mahia and Murang’a Seal in the topflight, Shabana got one over Seal as Mathew Tegisi’s second half strike was enough to hand them only their second win of the season in eight matches.
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Prior to the match, the Peter Okidi-coached side ended their winless start to the 24/25 season with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Kenya Police just before the November international break and were hoping to pick from where they left off.
In a bid to do that, Mathew Tegisi and Onwonga Lameck were brought into the starting eleven in place of Cliff Nyakeya and Vincent Nyabuto.
The game was balanced for the opening half hour as both sides struggled to create clear cut chances on goal.
Eight minutes to the break, the hosts should have taken the lead when Elly Saenyi pounced on a ball cut back into the area but Stephen Ochieng in the Shabana goal pulled off an incredible save by throwing his body to the floor to keep the deadlock intact.
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The second half was also a cagey affair up until the 61st minute when Darius Msagha, who caused a lot of problems on the wings, found Tegisi in the area for the opening goal that drove the Shabana fans into a frenzy.
Hit by the setback, Murang’a Seal upped the ante as they searched for the equalizer but poor finishing let them down on a number of occasions.
Try as they may, there was nothing forthcoming for them as Shabana resolutely held onto the win that propelled them to 11th place on the standings with 9 points.
Murang’a Seal on the other hand dropped from position 11 to 13 despite also having 9 points.
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