Bandari rally to hold Sofapaka in rescheduled tie

Bandari FC rallied to hold Sofapaka FC 1-1 in Thursday’s rescheduled Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clash at the Mbaraki Sports Club in Mombasa.

The match had been had been advanced from Wednesday after it was rained off and, sarcastically, it was the wet pitch conditions that contributed to the opener.

Kevin Kimani’s shot took a dreadful bounce off a patch of water to fool goalkeeper Farouk Shikalo into going the wrong way as the visitors took a 19th minute lead after some neat work from Kepha Aswani.

Bandari had to wait until the second half to pull back level with on-form striker William Wadri getting a sweet connection to turn in Hassan Abdhalla’s delivery five minutes after the restart.

Sofapaka had a morning to forget at as the match was preceded by similarly heavy rains as witnessed the day earlier with the hosts looking comfortable under the conditions.

Bandari made a substitution as head coach Bernard Mwalala sought to inject fresh legs into his attack with Wycliffe Ochomo replacing Yema Mwana in the 70th minute.

Ochomo came close to sealing the three points for Bandari a few minutes after coming on but saw his effort brilliantly saved by Sofapaka goalie Mathias Kigonya.

Sofapaka head coach Francis lamented on the muddy Mbaraki pitch but was full of his praise for the commitment from his players despite playing on a water-logged surface.

“The pitch was very rough, my players found it very hard to cope but well done to the boys for the point. It was an overall good performance from the lads,” Baraza said.

His counterpart Mwalala said after the match that they are now happy to have secured a second spot finish for the first time in the club’s history but admitted Sofapaka gave them a tough morning.

“I am just happy with the point because we had to come from behind.Our goal is now achieved(finishing second) and I’m really proud with the team.It was not an easy match but a point could only do better for us.”

With that result,Bandari are now second on 59 points, eight above third-placed Sofapaka with 51 points with only two matches remaining to round off the season.