Kenya: Gor Mahia Exit CAF Confederation Cup

By Cecil Odongo

Gor Mahia Sunday were knocked out of the Caf Confederation Cup after a 1-1 draw with AS Otoho d'Oyo of Republic of Congo in the second leg of the their Caf Confederation Cup play-off at Nyayo National Satdium.

The result saw the Kenyan record champions fall 2-1 on aggregate after losing the first leg 1-0 last Sunday away in Brazzaville.

Kenya's other representative in the competition, Tusker are away to Tunisian side CS Sfaxien, with the match starting at 8pm Sunday. Last weekend's first leg at Nyayo ended goalless.

Forward Roland Okouri, who scored the winner in the first leg, put the Congolese side ahead in the 12th minute from a rebound inside the box.

Winger John Macharia restored parity for K'Ogalo two minutes later after firing home from custodian Wilfrgon Mongondza's save.

The result saw K'Ogalo, who were playing in front of thousands of their fans among them Orange Democratic Republic (ODM) Raila Odinga, exit the competition in the playoff stage for the third consecutive year.

They lost to Napsa Stars of Zambia and DC Motema Pembe of DemocraticRwepublic of Congo in the last two seasons.

Gor's coach Mark Harrison said having a lean squad of 16 players worked to their disadvantage against the visitors.

"I fee sick! We are devastated because we wanted to go to the group stages, but again you realise we had 16 players while they had 28," said Harrison.

"We gave away a silly goal in the first five minutes. Yes we got back quickly, but we now had to win by three goal and it was always going to be difficult to achieve that. The performance was not good as it should be and we did not create enough opportunities."

Otoho's coach Alou Badra said: "I feel very happy with win because we never expected it. In the next stage we will have to increase our squad to get the results we want."

The hosts threatened in the ninth minute when winger John Macharia raced past two AS Otoho defenders and pickrf out forward Benson Omalla, but the youngster's glancing header didn't trouble custodian Wilfrgon Mongondza, who easily grabbed the ball.

Two minutes later, Jules Ulimwengu squandered a huge chance to put Gor ahead after failing to connect with Fred Nkata's cross from the right with the goal at his mercy.

However, things fell apart for Gor in the 12th minute after the away side won a free-kick on the edge of the box.

Otoho captain Fariah Ondongo took the set piece and Chandrel Massanga's header hit the post only for an unmarked Okouri to bundle it home.

The goal meant Gor had to score thrice to advance and their hopes were revived two minutes later as Macharia netted the equaliser after finishing off a rebound after Mongondza punched Jules Ulimwengu's shot to send the fans into frenzy.

The goal sparked chaos in a section of the VIP stands as some Gor Mahia fans beat up a few AS Otoho fans after engaging in heated exchanges.

It took the intervention of stewards and security officers to calm down the situation which happened a few metres from where Mr Odinga and other guests were seated.

Back on the pitch, AS Otoho looked lively in attack and Gor custodian Gad Mathews produced some fine saves from Ondongo's set pieces which troubled K'Ogalo defenders.

The visitors then resulted to time wasting tactics and Mongondza received the first booking of the game after taking over three minutes on the ground after he got injured.

At the half hour mark, Samuel Onyango won a loose ball on the right, found Wendo, but the combative mid fielder's long range shot went wide.

Arci Biassadila almost killed the game for the Congolese side with a neatly curled shot inside the box 10 minutes to the breather, but his effort narrowly missed the target.

Gor right-back Philemon Otieno almost reduced the deficit for K'Ogalo at the stroke of half time, but his header just missed the target.

In the second half, both sides attacked and Gor missed another chance in the 55th minute, Ulimwengu blasting wide from close range.

Gor coach Mark Harrison brought in Sydney Ochieng' for Alpha Onyango in the 70th minute and the former narrowly missed giving Gor the lead from his first chance in one-on-one situation with Mongondza a minute later.

Late chances from Sydney, Ulimwengu and Omalla did not yield any fruits and the visitors held on to reach the group stages of the competition.

This article originally appeared on the Nation

Photo: Goal.com