Paul Okoth's hat trick guides Ulinzi to first home win of the season
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Reading Time: 3min | Mon. 22.12.25. | 18:50
The military side went into the match on the back of a four-match winless streak including three consecutive losses
Ulinzi Stars returned to winning ways with a hard fought 3-0 victory over Posta Rangers courtesy of a hat trick from the on-form Paul Okoth in a FKF Premier League match played on Monday 22 December at the Ulinzu Sports Complex.
Ulinzi went into the match on the back of a four-match winless streak including three consecutive losses leading to the match and sat 15th on the log standings.
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Posta on the other hand were on a four-match unbeaten run where they had also not conceded a goal.
Motivated by the desire to end their bad run, Ulinzi began the match on the front foot, dominating early proceedings with Peter Mwanyika and Telena Ochieng causing Posta's defense problems.
In midfield, Ibrahim Shambi and Bill Okite were having the better of Vincent 'Crucial' Wasambo and Kevin Juma to help Ulinzi settle in.
For their troubles, Ulinzi took an early lead in the sixth minute when Boniface Muchiri’s well taken free kick was punched back to the field of play by Bixente Otieno in the Posta goal and into the path of Okoth for his seventh goal of the season.
The goal prompted the military side to momentarily retreat to their half as Posta pushed forward for an equalizer but Caleb Olilo’s 19th minute effort went over the bar.
Both teams had half chances in the rest of the half but none was good enough to warrant a change in the scoreline before half time.
In the second half, Posta started strongly, forcing Ulinzi to defend deep in their half and depend on counter attacks to protect their lead.
Olilo was instrumental in Posta’s search for an equalizer to bring in a flurry of beautiful crosses but Brian Marita,Eliud Lokuwam and Brian Otieno were not sharp enough to convert any by the hour mark.
Ulinzi on the other hand were becoming more dangerous on the counter attack with the front three of Mwanyika, Telena and Okoth hitting the target in quick succession.
The 2010 champions made good use of their attack when on a quick transition Mwanyika set Okoth through on goal, who outpaced Dinken Mwema and took a shot that went past Bixente and into the bottom left corner of the goal to double Ulinzi’s lead.
In the 90th minute, Jackson Dwang' brought down Muchiri in the box prompting the referee to point to the spot.
Okoth stepped up and sent Bixente the wrong way to complete his hat trick and hand Ulinzi their first win of the season.
With the win, Ulinzi leapfrogged Bidco to move to 14th on the log with 16 points as Posta remained eighth with 21 points.
