Last Sunday K'ogalo swept aside Western Stima to open a four point gap at the top of the table following Thika's barren draw with KCB the previous day. Keen observers will have noted that when Rama Salim scored the opening goal, his 5th of the season, he moved above George Odhiambo "Blackberry" as Gor Mahia's top scorer in the past 5 seasons (my stats currently go back to only 2008). Indeed it is safe to conclude that he is actually K'ogalo's top scorer since the club went to decline in the late 90s and early 00s but I will confirm that once I finish putting those stats together.
Rama's 5th goal of the season was his 17th in the league overall surpassing Blackberry's 16 goals that he achieved over 2 seasons. It was also Rama's 20th for the club in competitive games having scored one in the FKF Cup and 2 in the Top 8 last season. Here is a breakdown of Rama's league goals:
4 April 2012 vs Mathare United - 1
15 April 2012 vs Sofapaka - 1
6 May 2012 vs Chemelil - 1
12 May 2012 vs KCB - 2
8 July 2012 vs KCB - 3
21 July 2012 vs City Stars - 1
29 August 2012 vs Oserian - 1
3 October 2012 vs Rangers - 1
10 November 2012 vs Thika United - 1
14 April 2013 vs KCB - 1
21 April 2013 vs Sony - 1
23 June 2013 vs Karuturi - 1
17 July 2013 vs Chemelil - 1
21 July 2013 vs W. Stima - 1
It seems the club Rama has enjoyed playing against the most in K'ogalo colours is KCB, scoring 6 goals in only 3 outings!
I was at
the City Stadium (Tok Komwanda) last Sunday to see K’ogalo end KCB’s unbeaten
run and get their ninth point of the season from four games, courtesy of goals
from Donald Mosoti and Rama Salim’s last gasp penalty. Later I went through K’ogalo’s
stats, first to find out if this is their best start to the season in recent
years and how they have matched up against KCB since the new KPL era began. This
is what I found out.
Gor Mahia
have been notoriously slow starters of late. If they had managed to bag points
against Karuturi, Muhoroni Youth and Tusker at the beginning of last season,
they would have definitely won the league. Anyway, I can say that 3 wins out of
4 games for 9 points is our best start to the league in ages. This is how we
have matched up in the past for our first 4 games.
2012: After
winning our opener against Thika United, we went on to lose the next 3 games
against Karuturi (0-1), Muhoroni Youth (0-1) and Tusker (0-2) for a record of 1
win, 3 losses for 3 points
2011:
Starting the season with a loss to Rangers (0-3) we beat Ulinzi (1-0), drew
with Karuturi (1-1) and beat Western Stima (1-0) to give us 2 wins, a loss and
a draw for 7 points
2010: Started
the season by drawing the first four games, Western Stima, Ulinzi and Mathare
all goalless draws then a 1-1 draw with Sony for 4 points
2009:
Started the season with two identical 1-0 losses to Ulinzi and Thika United before
winning the next two games, 1-0 versus Chemelil Sugar and 3-2 against our
traditional rivals AFC Leopards for 6 points
2008: We
started the season with a loss to KCB (1-0), beat Agrochemicals 2-0 and then
had two barren draws against Chemelil and Karuturi for 5 points
2007:Started
the season whitewashing Homegrown 4-2 before losing the next three games,
Mahakama (0-1), Red Berets (0-2) and Ulinzi (0-1) for only 3 points.
Our recent
record against KCB is also healthy, last season we did a double over them,
plundering 6 goals in the process. In fact one has to go back to May 2010 for
the last time we lost against KCB. Here is how we have fared against them in
recent seasons.
Watch highlights of K'ogalo robbing the bankers
2012:
08 July won
3-1 (Rama Salim 3)
12 May won
3-2 (Rama Salim 2, George Midenyo 1)
2011
24 Sept
drew 2-2 (Collins Okoth, Eric Masika)
03 April
won 1-0 (Solomon Nasio)
2010
11 Sept won
2-0 (Musa Mohammed, George “blackberry”Odhiambo)
16 May lost
0-1
2009
08 Nov won
2-1 (Duncan Owiti “Macheda”, 2)
18 April
lost 2-1 (George Odhiambo – the goalkeeper, not Blackberry)
2008
13 Sept
drew 0-0
01 March
lost 0-1
Together with
this season results, our record against KCB since 2008 reads as Played 11, Won
6, Lost 3, drew 2
This
weekend we look forward to hosting Sony and sending them back to Awendo empty
handed
Kógalo began their 2013 season with a 1-0 win over Sofapaka
yesterday, courtesy of a Paul Kiongera goal, his first in the league for
Kógalo. This is the second successive season that Gor has won their opening
game after having recently gained the distinction of being slow starters in the
league. Last season Sirkal beat Thika United 2-0 but before that you have to go
back to 24th September 2006 when they beat Homegrown 4-2 in the opening fixture
of the 2006-2007 season. Sirkal lost to KCB 1-0 in 2008, to Ulinzi 1-0 in 2009, drew 0-0 with Western Stima in 2010 and lost 3-0 to Rangers in 2011.
Kiongera celebrates strike against Sofapaka
The win over
Sofapaka brings Kógalo's unbeaten streak in the league to a remarkable 20
games, the last loss coming against Ulinzi on 21st April 2012. Remarkably too,
coach Logarusic has only lost 2 league games since he took over the helms at
Kógalo. The win over Sofapaka also means that they are yet to beat Kógalo since
their debut league encounter in 2009 when Sofapaka won 2-1. Gor has since
gone on to win 3 games and drawn 5 games.
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.
This Saturday we take on Karuturi as we march towards the title. Karuturi has probably been K'ogalo's toughest opponent over the years and my stats can confirm this. We lost to them in the first leg of this season and last season we failed to beat them, drawing both games. The last time we beat Karuturi was on 30th May 2010 when Kevin Omondi scored the winning goal. It is the only time we have beaten them since 2007, with our previous victory before that being in 2007 when they were known as Sher. Our record against them since 2008 reads as P9, W1, D5, L3 (DLDLWDDDL). This is definitely not pleasant reading.
The result of these previous 9 encounters are as follows:
2012
4 March lost 1-0
2011
13 August draw 1-1 (Collins Okoth)
13 March draw 1-1 (Eric Masika)
2010
16 October draw 0-0
30 May win 1-0 (Kevin Omondi)
2009
30 November lost 1-0
22 March draw 1-1 (Chris Wekesa)
2008
26 July lost 1-0
22 March draw 0-0
As you can see, only 4 K'ogalos have scored against Karuturi, making them the most miserly team Gor has faced amongst the teams that have been ever present in the league since 2008. A Karuturi win will make them the first team to do a double over Gor Mahia this season, in fact no team has done a double over Gor Mahia since Thika United in 2009.
Going into this game:
A Sirkal victory and a Tusker loss will see Gor Mahia move top of the table with 3 games to go.
A Danny Sserunkuma goal will see him move onto 8 goals, joining 6 other players who have scored 8 or more for K'ogalo over the past 5 seasons and only 1 goal short of Balckberry's 9 in 2010.
A Kevin Omondi goal will see him join Dan Makori and Julius Owino as K'ogalos who have scored for Gor Mahia in 3 consecutive seasons since 2008.
A win will see K'ogalo extend their league winning streak to 6, the longest since the new KPL/TPL began in 2007.
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 13th
league title. For K’ogalo the equation is clear, win all their remaining 5
matches and they become champions for the 13th 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 for1-1 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 22nd
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 5th
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.
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 8th 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
