Saturday 30 March 2019

Match Preview: K’Ogalo Aims to Slay the Sharks



Gor Mahia today faces Kariobangi Sharks in their first appearance in Kisumu Stadium this season. Gor Mahia will be seeking their 12th league win of the season and hoping to keep touch with leaders Sofapaka who are a point ahead but have played 3 more games than K’Ogalo.
Gor Mahia vs Sharks in their last league meeting. Sharks won 1-0

Dominance

While Gor Mahia has dominated Kariobangi Sharks in the league since their promotion to the top flight in 2017, recent results that have favoured the Sharks sets this up as an enticing game.

Gor Mahia won their first 4 league meetings, scoring 11 goals in the process while only conceding 3 goals. The 3-0 win in August, courtesy of an own goal and Kevin Omondi and Lawrence Juma goals would however be the last time K’Ogalo experienced joy over the Sharks.  

Sharks would eliminate Gor Mahia from the 2018 FKF Sportpesa Shield  through post-match penalties after holding them to a barren draw and later win the league curtain raiser Super Cup and first leg tie by solitary goals.

For a team that is no longer used to losing consecutive games to a local team, the Green Army feels affronted, and while even a negative result in this fixture will not cause any significant damage to our title defence, fans will settle for nothing less than a win – if only to prove to Sharks that we are still the “Husband of Teams”.

Form Table

Gor Mahia has won 4 of their last 5 games and are coming into this fixture on the back of a 4-0 away win against Zoo FC in Kericho. Sharks on the other hand have only won 2 of their last 5 and are coming into this game on the back of 3-1 loss to Tusker FC last Wednesday.

Last five games form table


W
L
D
GD
PTS
Gor Mahia
4
0
1
7
13
Sofapaka
4
0
1
7
13
Ulinzi Stars
3
0
2
3
11
Homeboyz
3
1
1
8
10
AFC Leopards
3
1
1
3
10
Sony Sugar
3
0
2
6
9
Vihiga
2
0
3
2
9
Mathare
2
1
2
4
8
KCB
2
1
2
3
8
Kariobangi Sharks
2
1
2
3
8



Shark Slayer

Jacques Tuyisenge is the most prolific scorer for Gor Mahia in recent years and it is no surprise that Kariobangi Sharks has been one of the teams to face his wrath.

He scored the 3rd goal in our first meeting with the Sharks, adding to Harun Shakava and Jean Baptiste-Mugiraneza  goals in a 3-1 romp.

In the second leg he was the star of the show with a hat-trick as Gor ran riot in Kisumu, again winning 3-1. His total of 4 goals is the most by any player in this fixture.

While Tuyisenge has reserved his goal scoring boots for continental competitions this season, Nicholas Kipkurui has taken the goal scoring opportunities, scoring 5 league goals for Gor Mahia this season. 
Sidney Lokale has also stepped up in place of last season’s top scorer for Sharks, Eric Kapaito, scoring 5 league goals for the Sharks. 
Which of the 2 youngsters will deliver for their team?

Thursday 28 March 2019

Uncaging the Zoo - Slaughter in Kericho


Gor Mahia’s demolition of Zoo FC yesterday in Kericho not only made it 4 consecutive wins against the side from Kericho, but it was also the 4th consecutive time Gor Mahia was banging in 4 goals against them.


Kenneth Muguna celebrates scoring against Zoo in 2017. He scored the first goal yesterday

Last season Gor Mahia beat the Kericho side 4-2 in the first leg before running out 4-1 winners in the second leg. This season K’Ogalo had earlier demolished them 4-0 in the first leg and the 4-0 win yesterday makes it an 8-0 aggregate win.
Gor Mahia now has an 83% win record against Zoo FC, the highest against any of the current premier league teams.

Team
Played
Won
Lost
Drawn
%win
Zoo FC
6
5
0
1
83.3%
Mt. Kenya
5
4
0
1
80%
Kariobangi Sharks
5
4
1
0
80%
Kakamega Homeboyz
9
7
0
2
77.8%

While Gor Mahia has scored a remarkable 18 goals past Zoo, an average of 3 goals per game, no player has yet emerged as prolific in this fixture as goals have been shared around. There has been a total of 13 goal-scorers in this fixture with 5 players contributing 10 goals

Players

Goals
Kenneth Muguna
Jacques Tuyisenge
Ephrem Guikan
Samuel Onyango
Dennis Oliech
2
Meddie Kagere
Boniface Omondi
Joachim Oluoch
Bernard Ondiek
Wellington Ochieng
Wesley Onguso
Erissa Ssekisambu
Nicholas Kipkirui

1



Nicholas Kipkirui has so far endeared himself to fans and his goal yesterday was his 5th league goal for Gor Mahia, making him the club’s leading scorer in the league. He also becomes the latest player to score for Gor Mahia having scored previously against them while turning out for its rivals.

The win against Zoo FC pushes Gor Mahia to second on the table, 1 point behind leaders Sofapaka but with 3 games in hand against them. Gor Mahia’s next league fixture comes against Kariobangi Sharks in Kisumu this weekend