Rama's Double Figure, Top Shooters and the Double Boys

I was not at City Stadium to witness the game versus Oserian but kept a keen eye on the scores update. It was thus not a surprise for me to hear Rama Salim notch his 10th league goal of the season and 13th overall for K'ogalo. This makes him the highest Gor scorer in a season over the past 5 years, breaking loose off the 9 goals he jointly held with George Blackberry Odhiambo. In just one season, Rama has also equaled Baldin Ngwa's 10 goals that he scored in 3 seasons and is only 6 goals shy of "Berry's total of 16 goals in 2 seasons. He still has 8 games to achieve this. Here is a list of K'ogalo's top scorers in the league over the past 5 seasons.

	Player	Goals
1	George Odhiambo “Blackberry”	16
2	“Dr” Rama Salim	10
2	Baldin Ngwa	10
3	Julius “Awilo” Owino	9
4	Kevin Omondi “Daddy”	8
4	Duncan Owiti “Macheda”	8

The following is how Rama has scored his 10 league goals.

vs. Mathare Utd - 1
vs. Sofapaka - 1
vs.Chemelil - 1
vs. KCB - 5
vs. City Stars - 1
vs. Oserian - 1

Last week I did not blog after the Mathare draw but here are a few interesting stats from that game:
That was Gor's 7th successive draw in the league against the chokoras. Sserenkuma's double followed Duncan Owiti's double against the slum boys in 2009, the last time K'ogalo beat Mathare in a league game. It was also Sserenkuma's second double for Gor, following his double against City Stars in July. In scoring 2 against Mathare, he became the 4th K'ogalo to score a double more than once in the past 5 years in the league. Duncan Owiti "Macheda" leads the way with 3 during this period and KCB seems to be the teams K'ogalo players like scoring doubles against! Below is a list of the K'ogalos who have netted more than once in a game over the last 5 seasons, with Rama Salim being the only one to have bagged a hatrick!

Date	Player	Team
17 Aug, 2012	Dan Sserenkuma (2)	Mathare United
21 Jul, 2012	Dan Sserenkuma (2)	City Stars
8 Jul, 2012	Rama Salim (3)	KCB
12 may, 2012	Rama Salim (2)	KCB
17 Apr, 2011	Kevin Omondi (2)	Thika United
11 Jul, 2010	George Odhiambo (2)	Chemelil
3 Apr, 2010	Duncan Owiti (2)	Mahakama
8 Nov, 2009	Duncan Owiti (2)	KCB
27 Sep, 2009	Baldin Ngwa (2)	Red Berets
2 May, 2009	Duncan Owiti (2)	Mathare United
25 Apr, 2009	George Odhiambo (2)	Red Berets

Bring on Sony!

Gor vs Mathare United Preview

If someone is to go by stats, then today’s game against Mathare United would be a draw. The past five league games between K’ogalo and the chokoras have produced 5 consecutive draws. You have to go back to the return leg of the 2009 for a positive result for either team, when Mathare beat Gor 2-1 with Zablon “Pro” Otieno being on the scoresheet for K’ogalo. Earlier that season, Duncan Owiti “Macheda” had made his sensational debut bagging a double as Gor ran riot over Mathare, winning 3-1. It was the last time Gor beat Mathare United in a league game. Gor of course beat Mathare 2-0 last year in a Top 8 cup but can Gor break the 6 game winless streak against the chokoras today? 

In the last 5 seasons, Gor are averaging a point a game against Mathare, with the record reading played 9, won 1, lost 2 and drawn 6. This is the most number of draws against a single team for K’ogalo in the past 5 seasons. Only Karuturi and Sofapaka come close with 5 apiece. During this period Gor has shipped 9 goals past Mathare but has also let in 9.

Going into this game, Kevin Omondi will have an opportunity to become the second K’ogalo player to score for the club in the league in 3 consecutive seasons having scored 4 times in 2010 and 4 times in 2011. Only Dan Makori managed this between 2010 and 2012. Rama Salim will have the opportunity to get into double figures while Sserunkuma, if he scores once, will have tied last season’s top scorer with 4 goals, illustrating why we could not win the league last season. 

Rama's Golden Boots and Other Ulinzi Stats

Gor Mahia became the second club to lift the Top 8 cup after dethroning the defending champions, Ulinzi Stars with a 2-0 win. The following are some of the statistical milestones from the Sunday game.

Rama Salim scored his 12^th goal of the season in all competitions, making him only 5 goals shy of George Odhiambo Blackberry’s 17 goals as K’ogalo’s top scorer over the past 5 seasons. 9 of these goals have come in the league where he is currently equal with Blackberry’s haul of 9 in a season, achieved during the 2009 season. Dr. Rama has scored 3 goals in cup competitions this season, the highest by a K’ogalo. Other K’ogalo who has scored more than one in the cups this season are Edwin Lavatsa (2), Ivan Anguyo (2) and Itubu Imbem (2). The leading K’ogalo in the cups over the last five seasons is Edwin Lavatsa who has scored an incredible 6 goals in just two seasons, including 4 in last years' FKF Cup.

The game against Ulinzi Stars was K’ogalo’s 12^th game against these opponents in the last 5 seasons, with the results being pretty even. Gor has now won 4 games, lost 4 and drawn 4 against the soldiers in this period, scoring  9 goals and conceding 6 goals in the process. Gor has also recorded the better results in terms of scores during this period, winning 4-2 in 2009, 2-0 last Sunday and 2-0 in 2010 (when Blackberry scored what to me was the goal of the season). Ulinzi has not beaten Gor by more than 1 goal since September 2007 when they won 2-0 in a league encounter.

I am attempting to put together a list of K’ogalo scorers against Ulinzi but missing out on the K’ogalo scorers against Ulinzi on 23 August 2009 when Gor won 4-2. I know Blackberry scored one of the goals but who scored the other 3? Otherwise the last 5 years results against Ulinzi are as follows.

2012

19 August Ulinzi 0  Gor 2 [Rama Salim, Itubu Imbem] - Top 8 Final

21 April  Ulinzi 1    Gor 0 - League

2011

20 August  Ulinzi 0 Gor 0 - League

18 May Gor 0 Ulinzi 1 (match abandoned and awarded to Ulinzi) – Top 8 Semi Final

20 April Ulinzi 0 Gor 0 – Top 8 Semi Final

6 March Gor 1 Ulinzi 0 [Kevin Omondi] - League

2010

18 August Gor 2 Ulinzi 0 [Baldin Ngwa, George Odhiambo]

27 February Ulinzi 0 Gor 0

2009

23 August Gor 4 Ulinzi 2  [scorers?]

7 February Ulinzi 1 Gor 0

2008

10 August Ulinzi 1 Gor 0

6 April Gor 0 Ulinzi 0

Looking forward to the game against the draw kings, Mathare United. 

Sofapaka’s Draw Against K’Ogalo – Stats on Gor’s Draw Masters

By holding Gor to a goalless draw last evening, Sofapaka has now joined Karuturi as the masters of the drawn game against Gor. Their defensive approach ensured they got their fifth draw against Gor in 8 league games since they stepped into the top tier four seasons ago. Only Mathare United (6 draws, 66.7% of games played) has held K’ogalo to more draws over the past five seasons.  Here are top 6 teams in terms of percentage ratios (draws against number of games played) who have set out to frustrate Gor with draws (only teams who have played Gor in 2 or more seasons).

Team	Games Played	Draws	Percentage ratios
Mathare United	9	6	66.7%
Sofapaka	8	5	62.5%
Karuturi	9	5	55.6%
Tusker FC	9	4	44.4%
Ulinzi Stars	9	3	33.3%
Red Berets	6	2	33.3%

By failing to concede in the game against K’ogalo, Sofapaka -0.6%- remains second behind Karuturi – 0.4% (with the exception of Oserian & Muhoroni Youth who joined the league this season) as the teams to have conceded the least average number of goals against K’ogalo, a testimony to the number of draws played. Sofapaka has conceded 5 goals in 8 games while Karuturi has only conceded 4 in 9 games. With a game still remaining against Karuturi in Nairobi, K’ogalo will have another chance to improve on that stat before the season ends. 

K'ogalo Poised For A First League Double Over Sofapaka

Gor take on Sofapaka in a match neither can afford to lose if they are to keep up with the league’s pacesetters, Ingwe. A win for K’ogalo will see them leapfrog Thika and Ulinzi into 4^th position while a win for Sofapaka will see them narrow the gap at the top to 5 points. Now for some interesting stats on this match up.

Sofapaka has not been K’ogalo since their first match upon promotion to the top tier. They won that match 2-1 on 4^th April 2009 and since then K’ogalo has beaten them twice and drawn four times. A win for K’ogalo will see them complete their first double over Sofapaka and win their 5^th consecutive league game. It  is also interesting to note that before Rama Salim’s first leg goal, only 2 Gor players had ever scored against Sofapaka in the league, George Odhiambo “Blackberry” twice in 2009 and Julius Owino twice in 2010.

K’ogalo has played Sofapaka 7 times in the league, winning twice and losing once while four games have ended in draws. For 2 consecutive seasons (2010 and 2011), the two played to 4 consecutive draws. Only Mathare United has held K’ogalo to more consecutive draws in the league over the past 5 season, a streak of 5 which is currently running from the beginning of 2010 season. If this game ends in a draw, Sofapaka will join Karuturi on 5 games in holding K’ogalo to draws in the last 5 seasons, one less than Mathare United at 6.

If Rama Salim scores, this will be his 10^th goal for K’ogalo in the league (and 12^th in all competitions), thus becoming the first K’ogalo to go into double figures in the league for the first time in the last 5 years. A win for Gor will also be their 4^th double of the season having so far done a double over City Stars, Chemelil, and KCB. In the last 5 seasons, Gor has not done a double over more than 3 clubs, perhaps explaining why they have not won it! Here is a list of K’ogalo league doubles over the last 5 seasons.

2012: City Stars, KCB, Chemelil

2011: Western Stima, Thika United

2010: Mahakama, Rangers, Thika United

2009: Red Berets, Tusker FC

2008: Mahakama, Mathare Youth

After"math" Stats as Gor Gulps Tusker in Top 8

So K'ogalo has thumped Tusker 3-0 in the second leg of Top 8 semi-final for a 4-0 aggregate win to set up a final with Ulinzi Stars. Any interesting stats to write about after this game? Well, the 3-0 result was Gor's best result against Tusker in a competitive fixture over the last 5 seasons, surpassing the 2-0 win in a league encounter in 2010 - when George Odhiambo "Blackberry" so wonderfully rounded the Tusker defence to add to Kevin Omondi's strike. Gor has now scored 11 goals against Tusker in the last 5 seasons while conceding 8. Only City Stars and KCB have conceded more against Gor in KPL competitive fixtures over this period  while Tuskers' fellow yellow shirt, Mathare United have also conceded 11. Here is a list of Gor's current top 5 favorite shooting targets.

KCB - 13
City Stars - 12
Tusker - 11
Mathare - 11
Thika - 10


The following are the players that have scored those 11 goals against Tusker


Player                                                       Goals
George Odhiambo "Blackberry"                  2
Kevin Omondi                                            1
Ivan Anguyo                                               1
"Dr" Rama Salim                                         1
Moses Odhiambo "Rasta"                           1
Edwin Lavatsa                                            1
Julius Owino "Awilo"                                   1
Elisha Otieno                                               1
Habil Otieno                                                1
Steve Biko                                                  1


Meanwhile, Gor extend their winning streak to 7 in all competitions

The Pundit

Gor - Tusker Top 8 2nd Leg

Gor takes on Tusker in the second leg of their Top 8 semi final clash for the right to take on Ulinzi. By beating Tusker 1-0 in the first leg, Gor continued the tradition of not conceding a double to Tusker in competitive KPL fixtures over the last two season. Tusker now have only two games to break that jinx. That win over Tusker took Gor's winning streak to 5 in all competitive KPL competitions, their longest in the last 5 seasons. After Anguyo scored the lone goal in that game, his goal in the next game against Borabu Chiefs in the FKL Cup fixture ensured he became the only Gor player this season to have scored in the KPL, Top 8 and FKL Cup.

Meanwhile, here is the list for Gor's KPL 2012 scorers.

Player	League	Top 8	FKL	Total
Rama Salim	9		1	10
D Sserunkuma	3			3
Edwin Lavatsa	1		1	2
Ivan Anguyo	1	1	1	3
George Midenyo	2			2
Baldin Ngwa	2			2
Joseph Njuguna	1			1
Kevin Omondi			1	1
Hugo Nzoka	1			1
Dan Makori	1			1
Itubu Imbem	1		1	1
Total	21	1	5	27

I am currently putting together the stats for FKL/Presidents Cup over the last 5 seasons and will soon post them here. Meanwhile, wishing K'ogalo victory over Tusker FC today.

K'ogalo Takes on Tusker in Top 8 - The Stats

Tomorrow (Thursday 2 August), Gor Mahia takes on Tusker FC in the Top 8 Semi-Final 1st leg. Here are some interesting stats to watch out (currently limited to the last 5 years that KPL has taken shape).

Tusker is yet to complete a double over K'ogalo in any season over the last 5 season (excluding friendlies and non-KPL organized tournaments). Having beaten Gor 2-0 in the 1st leg of their league encounter, a win for Tusker will be their first double over Gor in a KPL organized match in this period. In fact the last team to complete a double over Gor was Thika United in 2009 when they won both league encounters 1-0. Tusker is also one of two teams this season that has score more than one goal against Gor. The other is KCB who lost 3-2 to Gor in a league encounter

A Rama Salim goal will be his 10th of the season. This will make him the first Gor player to hit 10 goals in a season in competitive KPL matches in the last 5 seasons. With 9 goals, he is currently tied with George Odhiambo "Blackberry" who scored 9 in 2009.

A Kevin Omondi "Daddy" will see him score for K'ogalo in 3 consecutive seasons in KPL organized competitive game, having scored 4 goals in 2010 and 4 goals in 2011. The only other players to achieve this for Gor are Dan Makori, Ivan Anguyo and Julius Owino "Awilo".

A Dan Sserunkuma goal will be his 4th of the season in just 4 games, the same as last season's top scorers Dan Makori and Kevin Omondi scored in the entire season.

Finally, a win for Gor will see them extend their winning streak to 5, bettering their best of 4 in the 2010 season.

Please note that these stats do not take into account FKL organized Presidents Cup and friendly games.