Africa-Press – Kenya. Kariobangi Sharks head coach William Muluya was delighted after his team registered a point against Gor Mahia in an action-packed Kenyan Premier League clash at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.
Muluya extolled the newly-assembled team, many of whom are youngsters, for their outstanding performance in the game. Benson Omalla put Gor Mahia ahead in the 69th minute with a well-placed header from Paul Ochuogo’s cross.
Following a goalmouth melee, Tyson Otieno restored parity barely three minutes later on the second bite of the cherry. “It was an equal-opportunity game. Gor had several good chances to win the game in the first half. But I believe we handled ourselves well and even scored a goal. So a point is something I can improve on,” Muluya said.
“Aside from the coaching, our young boys are knowledgeable, skilled and well-trained, and the fact that we lost 24 players has allowed them to shine,” he added.
Muluya said he is in the process of identifying a specific hitman for the side that has been firing on all cylinders despite being freshly-constituted.
“There is the cohesion that is coming into the team, and their level of understanding is so well that they are trying to manage these games. We want to build two or three goalscorers if we are going to get more goals,” Muluya said.
While Muluya was counting his blessings, his opposite number, Johnathan McKinstry, was utterly disappointed after his charges squandered their lead easily.
“The outcome is discouraging. Our boys were outstanding in the first half, in my opinion. We identified one or two areas that we believed were obvious weak points for our opponents and returned to push on those, resulting in the goal,” McKinstry lamented.
McKinstry said they gleaned some vital points from the hotly-contested encounter. “We take a point and move on, but if we had taken our opportunity in the first half, we could have been home and dry by halftime. Whatever happened in the three minutes following our lead should not happen again. We must always maintain our cool.”
He lauded his charges for fighting gallantly against a well-drilled opponent. “We had six to 10 chances that we should have converted. Those, I believe, were commendable for a game of this magnitude. This league has no easy teams. Teams compete for every ball, so creating 10 chances is a good return.
“We simply need to be more clinical in front of the goal. We can get away from teams if we do this. But, hey, it’s a point, and we’re still undefeated.”
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