Tusker make light work of Wazito to register maiden win

Defending champions Tusker finally found the remedy to their poor start to season after defeating Wazito 2-0 in the battle of the Football Kenya Federation Premier League's sick men at the Ruaraka Grounds on Saturday.

Shami Kibwana opened the scoring six minutes to the break after striking the ball neatly on the half-volley.

Substitute Deogratius Ojok sealed the win for Tusker with a curled beauty deep into injury time.

Fidel Origa and Cliff Nyakeya wasted the visiting side's best chances in the 20th and 40th minute respectively as Wazito struggled to breakdown a resolute Tusker defence.

Tusker coach Robert Matano made six changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Talanta in midweek. Kalos Kirenge was the only surviving member of the back four as captain Eugene Asike, Hillary Wandera and Kevin Monyi lost their spots to Christopher Oruchum, Jimmy Mbugua and Daniel Sakari respectively.

Kibwana and Teddy Osok replaced Rodgers Ouma and Stewart Omondi in midfield as John Njuguna was benched for Boniface Muchiri.

Francis Kimanzi made only three changes to the Wazito team that drew 1-1 with Kariobangi Sharks. Elli Asieche, Joseph Odhiambo and Ronny Onyango vacated their slots for Ericson Mulu, Dennis Sikhai and Levis Adet.

Matano congratulated his players for putting behind Wednesday's result against Talanta and securing a win that puts their season back on track.

"Defeat against Talanta required us to bounce back and as defending champions we have responded in the best way possible," Matano said.

Kimanzi was crestfallen as his club's winless streak stretched to five matches.

"We did not get the reward for our performance today but we have to move forward. As the manager, I will reflect on finding the perfect balance between our attack and defence so that we can get results in our coming matches," said Kimanzi.

The win pushed the Brewers to 13th on the log after losses in their first two matches.

Wazito's search for their first win continues with the defeat leaving them 17th on the league standings with two points.

Tusker wasted no time, showing their intentions early on with Christopher Oruchum collecting a pass from outside the Wazito area but, Zamu Adisa tipped his dipping shot over the crossbar.

Oruchum's attempt signalled what would be a busy afternoon for Adisa and his defence as two minutes later, an exchange of passes involving Muchiri and Jackson Macharia set up Kibwana whose shot was blocked.

Macharia sneaked into the Wazito box on the right side before setting up Ibrahim Joshua. Wazito's defence blocked Joshua's shot but, the rebound fell to Macharia whose second attempt to tee up another player turned the Wazito box to a ping-pong table before the visitors cleared the ball to safety.

Wazito had no time to breathe as Kibwana threatened one minute later. The former Kakamega Homeboyz player collected a pass outside the Wazito box and fired a vicious grass cutter that Adisa dived low to stop.

Wazito had their chance on 20 minutes when Ericson Mulu's hard work on the left-wing resulted into a pass to Fidel Origa only for the midfielder to shoot wide with Brian Bwire exposed in the Tusker goal.

It would have been quite the redemption for Origa after he had been booked for fouling Kibwana three minutes earlier.

Lewis Adet had a chance to punish a sleepy Tusker defence in the 23rd minute but his header from a Cliff Nyakeya's free-kick went over the bar after bouncing off the ground.

Tusker almost punished Wazito's wastefulness four minutes later but Muchiri slipped at the crucial moment.

Joshua had held up play nicely before flicking the ball to the 25-year-old. His initial shot was blocked but when the rebound fell kindly to him, he slipped as he tried to pull the trigger.

In the 32nd minute, James Kinyanjui threaded a pass to Nyakeya's path before Bwire left his area to clear the danger.

Kibwana had the Tusker bench on its feet in the 39th minute when he finished off Senaji's pass with a neat half-volley.

Wazito moved on from that very quickly and almost equalised immediately. Tusker failed to clear a corner and the ball fell nicely to Nyakeya and with the goal right in front of him, he blasted wayward off target.

Kimanzi started the second half by taking off Kinyanjui, Mulu and Sikhai for Elli Asieche, Eric Gichimu and Rooney Onyango but their influence was not felt immediately as both teams got off to a slow start.

Gichimu put Nyakeya through on goal but the latter elected to fire a low shot from outside the area despite having enough space to dribble and reduce the distance between him and the goal.

Two minutes later, Tusker lost the ball in midfield and the ball fell to Nyakeya again on the left-wing. He did well to beat his marker but an alert Oruchum intercepted his cutback to Oburu for a corner.

The clearance from the resulting corner was chased by Macharia and Adisa but it was the dreadlocked midfielder who got to the ball first. Luckily, Adet had taken a good position in the Wazito defence and his presence prevented Macharia from extending Tusker's lead with a lobbed attempt.

The remaining period was punctuated with attacks that over-promised in their initiation but under-delivered in their execution.

Ojok justified Matano's decision to bring him on for Clyde Senaji in the 62th minute with a last-gasp goal that put the result beyond Wazito's reach.

A clearance by the Tusker defence found the midfielder isolated on the left-wing and after noticing that Adisa had ventured out of his area, he unleashed a curler that went in at the far post.