Blackberry stars as Gor Mahia make it two wins in two matches

• Gor Mahia have won both their opening matches of the season
• They beat Bidco United 2-1 in Thika
• Coach McKinstry uninterested on title talk

Gor Mahia made it two wins in two matches in the FKF Premier League as they edged out Bidco United 2-1 at the Thika Sub County Stadium. George ‘Blackberry’ Odhiambo starred for K’Ogalo, assisting the opener and scoring the winner as they took the precious victory.

The record Kenyan champions are now on six points, having won their opening match 1-0 against Nzoia Sugar.

Gor coach Jonathan McKinstry was delighted with the positive start from his side, and says the need to keep growing from one game to another.

“I am obviously very pleased with three back to back points. At this same phase last season, the team had two points and now we have six. Definitely it is an improvement. I wasn’t particularly happy with how we played in the first half. We didn’t keep the ball really well but we improved in the second half,” said the tactician.

Meanwhile, Bidco’s Anthony Akhulia said his team played well, but were punished for their mistakes.

Played well

“We played really well but we lost. Sometimes the result doesn’t reflect how the match was. Gor did their homework well and capitalized on our mistakes. We have worked on possession and we are playing better but now we need to score. We need to have goals to reflect on the possession,” said the tactician.

Gor were the first on the scoresheet when Benson Omalla scored his second goal of the season. The forward rose to head home when Odhiambo’s cross from the left found him unmarked inside the box.

Alpha Onyango evades Bidco United’s Henry Juma

Bidco had some good spells of the match, but they couldn’t find the back of the net, going to the break a goal down. They however levelled matters in the second half when Ezekiel Okare converted from the spot after a foul inside the area.

But, Gor made changes with the introduction of Alpha Onyango and John Macharia, as they controlled the ball better. They scored their winning goal, mostly out of a mistake from the Bidco midfield.

Misplaced pass

A misplaced pass was intercepted by Odhiambo who strode goalward. Keeper Edwin Mukolwe sprinted off his line when it was absolutely unnecessary and Odhiambo had the easiest of tasks to strike the ball into an empty net.

They should have extended their tally late on, but Omalla’s connection from a cross on the right went wide.

The victory now sees Gor stay second in the standings, only adrift leaders Tusker on goal difference. But, coach McKinstry has refused to be drawn into title talk.

“If we get to March or April then we can have that conversation take a game at a time. Obviously I am very pleased with these last two games and how we have performed. If we can keep improving then we can be in a good position to do better than last season,”  the tactician added.