End of the road for minnows in Mozzart Bet Cup

The long wait for a team competing in the lower divisions to clinch the Mozzart Bet Cup continues after none sealed a semi-final berth in this year’s contest.

Ten-time winners AFC Leopards, 2018 winners Kariobangi Sharks, KCB, and Kenya Police are the teams, which progressed to the penultimate stage of the domestic cup after defeating their respective quarter-final opponents at the weekend. In the semi-finals, Police will face Leopards, while Sharks will square it out with KCB.

The semi-finals have tentatively been planned for May 25 and 26.

Apart from pocketing Sh2 million, the winner of the knockout competition will represent the country in the Caf Confederation Cup.

Out of 36 teams that registered for this year’s Mozzart Bet Cup, 14 ply their trade in the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL), while the rest compete in the lower tier leagues namely; National Super League (NSL), FKF Division One, Two and regional level competitions.

Compel FC, Bungoma Stars, and Denmark FC are the underdogs that caused upsets in the competition but failed to progress to the last four stage.

Compel, who are based in Webuye, Bungoma County play in the FKF Division One Zone “B” Western region.

Bungoma Stars also from Bungoma, competes in the FKF Division Two Western Zone “A” side, while Denmark takes part in the Coast Regional League Zone “B”.

Compel’s ambitious dream to qualify for the Caf Confederation Cup by clinching the Mozzart Bet Cup title were extinguished after they lost 3-1 to giants Leopards on Sunday.

While Compel started the contest strongly after Philip Simiyu fired them ahead in the first minute, Leopards bounced back through Arthur Gitego’s brace and a strike by Kayci Odhiambo.

To advance to the quarter-finals stage, Compel upset NSL leaders Mara Sugar 2-0 round of 16. The Webuye-based side defeated Kajiado by a similar margin in the round of 32.

Speaking after their elimination by ‘Ingwe’, Compel’s coach George Mutimba said that he was delighted by his side’s performance in the competition.

“It was my hope that we would progress to the semi-finals but still reaching this stage means a lot to us. We have shown the country what we are capable of despite being a village team and they can expect better things from us in the future,” said Mutimba.

Bungoma Stars bowed out of the competition in the round of 16 after they lost to three-time winners Sofapaka 5-4 in post-match penalties.

In the match held on March 30 at Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Kisumu, Bungoma Stars looked headed to the quarter-finals after they took an early 2-0 win over the ‘Batoto ba Mungu’.

However, they failed to capitalise on the numerous scoring chances and Sofapaka leveled the score, forcing it to be decided through penalties. Bungoma Stars defeated Bandari 2-1 in the preliminary round and FC Talanta 1-0 in round of 32.

Bungoma Stars, which is coached by former Kenya international Sylvanus Otema trains at the dilapidated Sirens Stadium at Bungoma Airstrip.

Otema attributed their wins over Bandari and Talanta to piling pressure on them.

Denmark defeated Gor Mahia 5-4 in post-match penalties after a barren draw in the round of 32. The Kwale-based side exited the competition in the round of 16 after losing 5-4 in post-match penalties. The two sides drew 1-1 in regular time.