Omala the hero yet again as K'Ogalo end three year hoodoo against Tusker

Record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia ended their over three year wait for a league victory against Tusker as they picked a hard fought 2-1 victory over the reigning champions in a Wednesday afternoon clash staged at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

In the Round 15 clash that looked to be ending in a stalemate, in form striker Benson Omala stepped up from the penalty spot with five minutes remaining to seal all three points for his side after Tom Teka was adjudged to have handled in the area, a strike that piled more misery on Tusker who are now four matches without a win.

Prior to the winning goal, Sidney Ochieng's first half goal had been nullified by Shami Mwinyi's superbly taken early second half strike.

"The game against Tusker was really tough and the win feels very good because playing against them is hard because of the type of long ball football they play. The three points help us keep up with the pack with games in hand," Gor's Johnathan McKinstry said.

"Today we played really well but anybody can see the the officiating affected the game. The first goal was not supposed to count and the penalty awarded was outside the box. So today, all the blame goes to the referee," an infuriated Robert Matano remarked.

The game got off to a frenetic start in the opening minutes with both sides keen to assert their dominance by taking command in the middle of the park.

Despite looking energetic early on and promising an end to end affair, the encounter quickly slumped into a boring and clueless exchange as the two sides struggled to create anything meaningful in the danger zones, leaving the countable fans in the grounds with lazy yawns and occasional peeping on their phones.

Save for an innocuous Charles Momanyi off target headed attempt that stemmed from one of Humprey Mieno's inch perfect free kick deliveries, there was nothing essential to write home about in the opening twenty nine minutes.

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On the half hour mark though, that drab situation was quickly turned as Sidney, who had been the best player on the pitch by far in the opening proceedings, made an intelligent reaction run to pounce on a quickly taken free kick by Austin Odhiambo as the two combined to give Gor Mahia the lead.

Closing in on goal, the former Tusker player rifled his shot in the top right corner to give Gor the lead against his former employers as Patrick Matasi only watched the ball hit the back of the net.

Trailing by a goal, Tusker who were already not creating enough chances were dealt a blow when the experienced Mieno had to be subbed off after picking an injury to his right leg just before the break, Shaphan Oyugi taking his place as Gor led into the breather.

Upon the second half's resumption, Robert Matano showed his desire to extend their impressive record against Gor as he made triple changes in bringing on Jackson Macharia, Ibrahim Joshua and Eric Zakayo in place of David Majak, Deogratius Ojok and Eric Mmata respectively.

Those changes proved to be just what the doctor ordered as the trio imposed themselves in the match as they pushed Gor Mahia into defending their territory.

In one of the dangerous attacks, Zakayo managed to get a free kick out of Austin Odhiambo who fouled him on the edge of the box, giving Tusker their best chance of restoring parity in the game.

Shami Mwinyi needed no further invitation than that as he delicately placed the free kick in between between the stationed wall and the crowded penalty box to score an exquisite equalizer just seven minutes into the half.

The equalizer threw the game into a real contest as both sides now found the drive to go for all the three points after tasting the back of the net.

It is Gor Mahia who however managed to find the breakthrough, although from the penalty spot, when Omala stepped up to convert a foul awarded to the team in the 85th minute to seal the three points that cemented their place in second on the log.