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Leopards draw with Stima to end in 10th place

Western Stima's Akumu Vitalis (left) vies for the ball with AFC Leopards’ Austin Otieno during their SportPesa Premier League match at Moi Stadium, Kisumu on May 29, 2019. The match ended in a barren draw. PHOTO | ONDARI OGEGA |

By  Victor Otieno

Reporter

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

  • Stima almost took the lead after 11minutes when Kennedy Otieno sent a shot towards the empty net after goalkeeper Jairus Adira miscalculated his move to leave his line early, defender Soter Kayumba coming to the rescue with a clearance on the line.
  • Goalkeeper Adira was forced into a save 10 minutes later to deny Kevin Okoth, as the hosts sought to break the deadlock in the low tempo match, which was also poorly attended.

AFC Leopards on Wednesday battled to a barren draw with hosts Western Stima to finish the 2018/2019 SportPesa Premier League at position 10 on 43 points.

The clash between the two sides, which was this season's last and staged at Moi Stadium in Kisumu was low key, with neither side looking determined to go for the win.

Out of 34 matches, Ingwe bagged maximum points in 11, drew 10 and lost 13. For Stima, they finished 13th with eight wins, 15 draws and 11 losses.

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Leopards coach Andre Casa Mbugo said the season has been good as they managed to move from bottom place.

"Simple mistakes is what cost us, otherwise I can say the season has been good. There was a time we were ranked last but we worked hard and climbed upwards," he said.

Western Stima coach Salim Babu said he was happy his team survived relegation and promised to finish a better position next season.

"I came when only ten games were left and we were facing relegation. We fought and I am happy we remain in the league, the team is good, with a few changes we should perform better next season," said Babu.

Stima almost took the lead after 11minutes when Kennedy Otieno sent a shot towards the empty net after goalkeeper Jairus Adira miscalculated his move to leave his line early, defender Soter Kayumba coming to the rescue with a clearance on the line.

Goalkeeper Adira was forced into a save 10 minutes later to deny Kevin Okoth, as the hosts sought to break the deadlock in the low tempo match, which was also poorly attended.

Whyvonne Isuza's long range strike on the 28th minute, which Stima's goalkeeper Samuel Odhiambo dealt with easily, was Leopards first and only shot on target in the first half.

While Stima enjoyed the bulk of the possession in the entire first half and pinned ngwe in their area in the dying minutes of the first period, they were unable to convert, the teams breaking for a rest at square.

The tempo of the match increased in the second half, both sides carving out early chances which missed the target. Coach Babu sought to inject fresh energy and replaced Erastus Mwaniki with Martin Oduor.

Otieno wasted the hosts best scoring chance in the 65th minute when he found himself with goalkeeper Adira as the only man to beat, his chip from close range the box going wide to the right.

Ten minutes to time, Stima survived when Brian Marita delivered a cross from the corner area which Christoph Orochum connected, goalkeeper Odhiambo reacting fast to make a save, before Otieno was denied a goal the other end by goalkeeper Adira.

Mbugo made his first change of the match moments later, Musa Asad coming in for Bonface Mukhekhe.