It's Squeaky Bum Time: K'ogalo's Run-In Stats

We have reached that stage of the league which Roberto Mancini so famously described during the last EPL season as “squeaky bum time”  - that time when the only teams not feeling any sort of heat are the teams that can neither win the league nor get relegated. And contrary to the expectations after 10 games at the beginning of the season, K’ogalo are right in the mix. The title racearithmetics for K’ogalo is now simple, we win all our remaining games and we become champions regardless of other results. But the run in is never simple. With six games to go, I now take a look at how we have done in our last six games over the last 4 seasons, with the most dramatic being the 2010 season when we were competing for the championship until the last day of the season. 

In 2008, we had started the season poorly, winning only 3 of our first 10 games and 5 of the first 20 games. However going into the last 6 games we had stabilized a bit and though there was still a remote possibility of relegation, we knew we would survive. In the final run in we faced Bandari, Mahakama, Mathare Youth, Agrochemicals, Chemelil and City Stars. The results (3 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws) were as follows:

10 October vs Bandari – Won 1-0 (Julius “Awilo” Owino)

18 October vs Mahakama – Won 1-0 (???)

01 November vs Mathare Youth – Won 4-3 (Zablon Otieno, Julius Owino, John Rigo, Habil Otieno)

09 November vs Agrochemicals – Lost 0-1

15 November vs Chemelil – Drew 0-0

30 November vs City Stars – Drew 0-0

In 2009 we had pretty much established ourselves as a stable team and it was now obvious the dark years of instability at the turn of the millennium were now behind us. We had however started the league on a shaky note and only won 3 of the first 10 games (including a 3-2 win over Ingwe at Kasarani) but were finishing the league strongly once again. Our final 6 games included fixtures against Red Berets, Tusker, Agrochemicals, Bandari, KCB and Karuturi. The results (4 wins, 2 losses) were as follows:

27 September vs Red Berets – Won 3-0 (Baldin Ngwa [2], Francis Ocholla)

18 October vs Tusker – Won 1-0 (George Odhiambo “Backberry”)

24 October vs Agrochemicals – Won 2-1 (Ibrahim Kitawi, Eric Masika)

31 October vs Bandari – Lost 1-2 (Peter Opiyo “Pinchez”)

08 November vs KCB – Won 2-1 (Duncan Owiti “Macheda” [2])

30 November vs Karuturi – Lost 0-1

2010 began with 4 consecutive draws and only 3 wins in the first 10 games but a very strong 2^nd leg saw us go into the last six games in contention for the title, a mirror of the season we have had this year. This run also included a game against the old enemy, Ingwe, in between games against Mahakama, Karuturi, Thika, Sony and City Stars. The results (4 wins and 2 draws) were as follows:

26 September vs Mahakama – Won 2-0 (Ibrahim Kitawi, Kevin Omondi “Daddy”)

16 October vs Karuturi – Drew 0-0

23 October vs AFC Leopards – Won 1-0 (Collins Okoth)

30 October vs Thika – Won 1-0 (Ivan Anguyo)

06 November vs Sony – Won 2-0 (Kevin Omondi “Daddy”, Baldin Ngwa)

17 November vs City Stars – Drew 0-0

Collins Okoth celebrates the goal that downed Ingwe

In any other year prior to 2008, the season we had in 2011 would have been taken as successful but given the progression of the club over the last few years, a 4^th place finish (despite winning the FKL Cup) was considered a disaster and Zico had to go. The season began with a 3-0 loss to Rangers and despite 5 wins in the first 10 games, there would be a mid season slump of 8 games without victory and 4 losses that saw us drop off the pace. Towards the end, the race seemed to be about finishing above the old enemy and we would eventually finish 4^th, one place above Ingwe despite their strong run under their new tactician Jan Koops. Going into our last 6 games, which game on the back of a 3-0 loss to Ingwe, we faced Bandari, Chemelil, Sony, City Stars, Rangers and Sofapaka. The results (3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss) were as follows: 

15 October vs Bandari – Lost 0-1

24 October vs Chemelil – Drew 0-0

30 October vs Sony – Won 2-1 (Ivan Anguyo, Dan Makori)

02 November vs City Stars – Won 1-0 (Moses Otieno)

17 November vs Rangers – Won 3-0 (Dan Makori, John Kiplangat, Anthony Akumu)

26 November vs Sofapaka – Drew 0-0

We are obviously a team that can handle the pressure of the run-in, always winning more than we lose or draw at the death. Now let’s rally behind the boys and see how they will handle the pressure of a run in and do better than the class of 2010 as we hope for a record that reads WWWWWW