Gor Mahia coach displeased with team's showing in Mara dead rubber
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Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 28.05.26. | 11:20
K'Ogalo, with little to play for, were second best as they eased out to a barren draw
Gor Mahia head coach Charles Akonnor says he was not overly pleased with how his team handled their penultimate league game of the season against Mara Sugar on Wednesday, 27 May, but hopes for a better show come coronation day on Sunday.
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K’Ogalo, days removed from winning their record-extending 22nd FKF Premier League championship, were as lax as they come in the dead-rubber, eventually easing out to a barren draw at the Raila Odinga Stadium in Homabay.
“I wasn't happy with how we got in the game,” Akonnor, who saw his side secure the title without kicking a ball last Sunday, told Azam TV post-game. “In the second half when we came in, we were a little bit better, but you know we were more relaxed to play.”
Initially scheduled for Sunday, 24 May, Gor Mahia’s clash with The Sugar Millers was rescheduled to three days later, owing to a stadium dispute that had earlier seen the latter opt to host the game at Kirinyaga’s Wang’uru Stadium.
While the issue was later resolved, the extra days meant that Gor Mahia were afforded an afternoon to bask in the delight of their league chasers - AFC Leopards - blowing their credentials in a 2-1 defeat to APS Bomet, guaranteeing the title for the Green Army.
What had looked to be a key game for Gor Mahia thus turned out to be nearly worthless, as Akonnor best explained.
“If you look at how we started the first half, you need a lot of motivation to play such games and we have achieved our goal,” the Ghanaian said. “The opponents have also achieved theirs; they are not relegated, and they are in the league still.”
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With no jeopardy involved, visitors Gor Mahia, save for the occasional threat to the opposition goal, were forced to hang onto a point, thanks to a wasteful Mara side.
“We needed to do more than we did,” Akonnor added. “I wasn't too happy with how we played, the chances that we created, and how we also gave up a lot of chances at the back. We were not properly organized. But in all fairness, it is okay, we are going back [to Nairobi], and we want to finish very well in our next match.”
K’Ogalo’s next match on Sunday, 31 May turns out to be their day in the sun, when their crowning moment will come against the slippery Nairobi United.
Speaking about that game, Akonnor said: “We just have to focus, win, and do well. Not just win, but do well, because of course our fans will come in numbers, and so we want to present ourselves in a manner that we deserve to win the championship, and that we have done well in the whole league.”