- Sofapaka beat Homeboyz 1-0 in Machakos
- They have climbed to 14th in the standings
- Homeboyz have lost four of their last five matches
Sofapaka FC head coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno is confident the team will avoid relegation from the FKF Premier League, despite a difficult season. Batoto ba Mungu hoisted themselves to 14th in the standings courtesy of a hard earned 1-0 win over Kakamega Homeboyz.
The victory took them to 20 points, three off automatic relegation spots and one away from the play-off zone. Darius Msagha stepped off the bench to score the winning goal for them.
“As compared to the previous matches, today, we had players who could come on and change the game for us. Msagha and Sunday (Ikekhai) won the game for us today because they came in and brought something fresh,” said Zico after the game.
The Sofapaka tactician believes they have shown enough improvement since he took charge, and will give their all in the remaining matches of the season.
“We have been growing game by game and I am impressed with the hunger and fighting spirit I have seen from the team. I am very much sure, we will not be relegated at the end of the season,” the coach added.
The veteran coach was brought in to aid the sinking ship, with erstwhile stand in coach Ezekiel Akwana dropping down to assistant.
Sofapaka has had Zico for three games
Action between Sofapaka and Kakamega Homeboyz
He has been in charge of three games, winning two and losing one, against on-form Tusker FC.
Against Homeboyz, Zico’s men knew they had to battle for a win especially with the bottom sides Shabana and Muhoroni Youth having won their matches the previous weekend.
But, it was Homeboyz who started the match better and pressed from the beginning. They were almost gifted a goal after 13 minutes when Roy Okal passed back to his keeper oblivious of his positioning.
However, the shot stopper managed to race back quick to extend a foot and boot the ball out for a corner as it almost trickled into the net.
On the half hour mark, they also had a chance when Moses Mudavadi attempted a first time shot on the volley from the edge of the box after a corner was headed to his direction, but the effort sailed wide.
Eight minutes to the break, Ambrose Sifuna, turning out against his former employers, won the ball off Baron Ochieng on the right and cut back a cross to Kevin Amwayi inside the box, but the forward lost his footing and failed to execute a shot from close range.
Sofapaka rarely made inroads in the final third but in the second half after the introduction of the speedy Msagha, they began to be more dangerous.
Msagha comes in to bring influence
Sofapaka’s Baron Oketch and Roy Okal win the ball off Ambrose Sifuna of Kakamega Homeboyz
The former Bandari man curled a shot just over in the 66th minute while later, he had another effort blast wide from the left.
He finally had his goal in the 85th minute when he picked up a cross from Jacob Onyango and shot into the roof of the net first time.
Homeboyz made inroads late on in the final minutes to try rescue at least a point, but Sofapaka were tight at the back to ensure they guarded their points with jelousy.
For Homeboyz, it was another poor result on a bad run, the side having lost four of their last five matches to drop down to eighth in the standings. The Kakamega based side had a good start to the season and were even being touted as one of the title contenders.
“We have a problem in the final third. In football, you can possess the ball as much as you want, but if you make mistakes in either of the two boxes, you cannot win. That has been our problem and we hope to address it,” noted the coach.
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