Gor Mahia vs Muhoroni Youth Preview

This Saturday Gor Mahia hosts Muhoroni Youth in a league match but is this fixture the most one sided in the league for Gor Mahia over the past few years? Since Gor Mahia shockingly lost 0-1 to Muhoroni Youth in their first encounter in 2012, Gor Mahia has won all the subsequent league encounters, scoring 24 goals while conceding only 2 and harvesting 30 points out of a possible 33. However a closer look at head to head results versus other teams that have been in the league throughout this period will reveal that Chemelil FC have fared slightly worse against the Green Army.

Chemelil has never beaten Gor Mahia over this period, managing only one draw and conceding 20 goals. Sony FC and Thika United are the only other teams to have failed to beat K'Ogalo in the league during this period. The toughest opponents for Gor Mahia during this period have been Ulinzi who have only handed K'Ogalo 14 points and won 3 times, joint highest with Tusker FC.

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Chemelil Sugar FC	11	10	1	0	20	3	31
Muhoroni Youth	11	10	0	1	24	2	30
Sony FC	11	8	3	0	11	2	27
Mathare United	11	7	3	1	17	8	24
Western Stima	11	7	3	1	15	6	24
Thika United	11	6	5	0	15	6	23
Sofapaka FC	11	6	3	2	11	6	21
AFC Leopards	11	5	4	2	15	10	19
Tusker FC	11	4	4	3	5	7	16
Ulinzi Stars	11	3	5	3	8	6	14

Back to Gor Mahia vs Muhoroni Youth; Dan Sserunkuma has scored 5 goals in this fixture, more than any other player with Jacques Tuyisenge scoring 3 times. Only Geoffrey Simiyu and Enos Ochieng have scored a goal for Muhoroni in this fixture.

Sserunkuma: Has scored more goals in this fixture more than any other player

Muhoroni Youth can however take consolation that the most famous victory in their history was against Gor Mahia in the 2016 Top 8 Final to clinch their only major trophy.

The Boys With The Golden Boots

Over the last one month, our boy Danny Sserunkuma has scored four goals, one in the league and three in the FKF cup to establish himself as one of Kógalo's premier predator in the new KPL era. And it is no surprise that his single league goal was the customary one against the old enemy, AFC Leopards. Last year Dani gave us all his 12 goals in the league but this season he has shared his 7 goals around, 4 in the league and 3 in the FKF Cup, now known as GoTV Shield. Since joining Gor last season, Dani has banged in 19 goals, making him the second highest scorer for K'ogalo in the KPL era, just one goal shy off Rama Salim. He is also joint second highest scorer for K'ogalo in the league tied in with George Odhiambo "Blackberry" on 16 goals, again 1 shy off Rama Salim who scored 17 before his departure to the Middle East.

Scoring against Leopards has become a ritual for Danny Sserunkuma

Another player that has reached a landmark this season is Kevin Omondi whose 7 goals for K'ogalo this season makes him joint top scorer with Danny. Ade has scored 4 goals in the league, 2 in the GoTV Shield and 1 in the CAF Confederation Cup, his richest vein of form for K'ogalo. This has brought his total goals for K'ogalo to 17 with 12 of those coming in the league, 4 in domestic cup and 1 in the CAF Confederations Cup.

If these two players continue like this, they will both be getting their 20th goals for K'ogalo.

Below is the list of K'ogalo sharp shooters over the last few years.

KPL League

1. Rama Salim - 17
2. George Odhiambo "Blackberry" - 16
3. Danny Sserunkuma - 16
4. Kevin Omondi - 12
5. Baldin Ngwa - 10

All Competitions

1. Rama Salim - 20
2. Danny Sserunkuma - 19
3. Kevin Omondi - 17
4. George Odhiambo "Blackberry"- 16
5. Edwin Lavatsa - 12

Review: Last Season In Numbers

2012 is gone, with all the excitement, drama and eventual disappointment as we lost the league on the last day of the season. This disappointment was made slightly more bearable by the fact that we we won 2 cups and none of us ever thought we'd finish as runners -up given the terrible start we had at the beginning of the season. Before we delve into the new season, here are some numbers that were served up last season. 

37 - K'ogalo scored a total of 37 league goals in the season, compared to the 27 it scored in 2011. Gor's best year in terms of league goal hauls in the last 5 seasons was however in 2009 when it scored 38 goals, one more than last season. In 2010 Gor scored 33 goals while the worst season in the last 5 years in terms of goals scored was in 2008 when it scored a paltry 18 goals. 

12 - Rama Salim and Dan Sserunkuma both scored 12 league goals, the highest by a Gor player in the last 5 seasons. Previously, George "Blackberry" Odhiambo had scored 8 in 2010 and 2009. This was also the first time a K'ogalo player had breached the double figure digit in the last 5 seasons. Sserunkuma finished the league with 17 goals, having scored 5 goals for City Stars in the first leg of the season, emerging as the second highest scorer behind Sofapaka's John Baraza. 

15 - Rama Salim scored a total of 15 goals in all competitions for Gor, emerging as its highest overall scorer. In just one season, Rama is only a goal behind George "Blackberry" Odhiambo's current record haul of 16 goals, scored over 2 season. (Note that these stats apply for only the past 5 seasons). The top 5 goal getters for Gor in the past 5 seasons are as follows:

   1. George Odhiambo "Blackberry" - 16

   2. Rama Salim - 15

   3. Dan Sserunkuma - 12

   4. Baldin Ngwa - 10

   5. Julius Owino "Awilo" - 9

   5. Kevin Omondi "Daddy" - 9

15 - 15 players managed to score 51 goals for Gor in all competitions. These were: Rama Salim (15), Dan Sserunkuma (12), Ivan Anguyo (4), Edwin Lavatsa (3), Baldin Ngwa, George Midenyo, Ali Abondo, Moses Odhiambo, Kevin Omondi and Itubu Imbem (2) and 1 each for Chris Wekesa, Hugo Nzoka, Dan Makori, Joseph Njuguna and Moses Otieno. 

More review stats will follow shortly

Sirkal vs Rangers Preview: The Stats

On Wednesday night K’ogalo takes on Rangers in a match they must win to keep up the pressure on Tusker as they match towards their 13^th league title. For K’ogalo the equation is clear, win all their remaining 5 matches and they become champions for the 13^th time – and the first since 1995.Rangers have been in the top flight since the 2010 season when they came in as Posta Rangers and reverted to just Rangers after Posta bailed out as their sponsors the following season. Rangers are currently bottom of the league and their form of late suggests that K’ogalo should easily beat them. But what is K’ogalo’s record against Rangers. 

The following is K’ogalo’s record against Rangers in numbers.

1 for draw: there has only been 1 draw between the two, coming earlier this season when Baldin Ngwa scored late on for  1-1 draw at Nyayo Stadium. Rangers has also beaten K’ogalo only once, a 3-0 defeat at the start of the 2011 season.

2 for double scorers:  Baldin Ngwa is the only Gor player who has scored twice against Rangers, scoring in a 2-0 victory on 22^nd August 2010 and the equalizer earlier this year. 2 is also for the average points K’ogalo has taken from Rangers over the past 3 seasons. 

3 for wins: Gor has beaten Rangers 3 times, 1-0 and 2-0 in 2010 and 3-0 in 2011.

4 for goals conceded: K’ogalo has allowed Rangers to hit the back of their net 4 times in their 5 games since Rangers were promoted. 

5 for streaks: If Gor beats Rangers, this will be their 5^th consecutive victory in the league. Gor are currently on a 4 game winning streak (Oserian, Ulinzi, Sony and Leopards), equalling a 4 game winning streak between June 23 and July 21 this year (W. Stima, KCB, Chemelil and City Stars). The longest winning Sirkal managed last season was 3, between October 30 to 17 November (Sony, City Stars and Rangers). The last time Sirkal had a 5 game winning streak was between 28 September and 1 November 2008 (W. Stima, Red Berets, Bandari, Mahakama and Mathare Youth).

6 for Rangers destroyers: 6 K’ogalos have scored 7 goals against Rangers – George Odhiambo “Blackberry”, Julius Owino, Baldin Ngwa, Anthony Akumu, John Kiplangat, and Dan Makori. Only Anthony Akumu is a starter in the current team while Ngwa (on loan) and Julius Owino are currently turning out for Rangers.

7 for Sserunkuma goals: Dan Sserunkuma has scored 7 goals in the league for K’ogalo this season, the second highest this season behind Rama Salim. A goal against Rangers will take his tally to 8. Only 6 players have scored more than 7 goals in the league for K’ogalo over the past 5 seasons (George Odhiambo “blackberry”, Baldin Ngwa, Rama Salim, Julius Owino, Kevin Omondi and Duncan Owiti). 

versus Rangers in a previous match

For the die hard stats minded K’ogalo’s, feel free to contribute your stats in the comment section.

Sserunkuma Double Show as K’ogalo Rein in Ingwe: The Stats

On Saturday Dan Sserunkuma fired a double to help K’ogalo not only beat Ingwe and claim the derby bragging rights, but significantly to leapfrog them on the log with 5 games to go and edge ahead on head to head scores since the beginning of the new look KPL (now TPL) 5 seasons ago. Here is a run down on the stats milestones during the game. 

Sserunkuma has amazingly now scored 7 goals for K’ogalo in less than half a season since joining Gor, that’s 7 goals in 10 games, an amazing feat by local standards. What’s more, his goals for K’ogalo always seem to come in doubles! It was only in his debut against Western Stima that he scored one goal, the rest of the games that he has scored in, he has scored twice in each. He scored doubles against City Stars, Mathare United and AFC Leopards. I am sure the double against Ingwe will remain the most famous amongst K’ogalo fans. 

His double was also the fifth that a K’ogalo has scored this season. The others were scored by Rama, 2 against KCB in the first leg and a hatrick against the same opponents in the second leg. Interestingly, last season a K’ogalo scored a double only once, Kevin Omondi against Thika United in Thika. A few weeks back I wrote about K’ogalo’s double boys which you can read HERE.

The game against Ingwe was the 8^th league game since Ingwe’s return to the top flight four seasons ago. Win this victory, we now have 4 wins against Ingwe’s 3 with one game having ended in a draw. The 2 Sserunkuma goals also brings our tally of goals against Ingwe to 9 against 8 that they have scored. This rivalry looks set to continue being a close one. 

Meanwhile a couple of photos on the stadium atmosphere last Saturday 

Fans wait to get into Kasarani minutes before kick off

From my vantage point

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!