Gor eye Top 8 success to inspire flagging title run

With Gor Mahia’s hopes of bagging the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) title for the fourth year in row in serious jeopardy, the 15-time national champions will be taking no chances against Muhoroni Youth in the Top 8 Tournament final on Sunday.

They are already out of the GOtv Shield Cup and coach Jose Marcelo Ferreira is not keen to end his first season trophy-less should KPL leaders Tusker dethrone them from the league crown.

“I don’t think anyone should say it will be easy for us. Any team that reaches the final of any tournament even if it is a one day tournament cannot be underrated; we can only do that at our own peril.

“Muhoroni are a very good side, to qualify for the final they had a fine run scoring four goals and conceding only one. We scored four and conceded none, evidently showing they almost match us strength wise. This means the best prepared team will carry the day,” Gor general secretary, Ronald Ngala offered.

He pointed out the technical bench upheaval at Muhoroni that has seen two coaches exit this season should not be an excuse to think they are not ready for the upset.

“A lot has changed in the Muhoroni team that qualified for the final and the current team. However, we cannot concentrate on them because we have our game plan to focus on.

“Sometimes such changes could prove advantageous to them because those who are replacing the so called good coaches and players want to prove a point, hence perform better,” expounded Ngala.

Besides the coaches, Muhoroni have suspended their top scorer Wycliffe Ochomo on disciplinary grounds but interim head coach Tom Juma is not perturbed.

“Most people rate us the underdogs but we know we are worthy opponents and that’s why we are in the final. We are going for nothing less than a win, names won’t matter here, and it will be a matter of what we do in the 90 minutes.

“We have put the departure of Ochomo behind us. We have Moses Arita and Lwamba Bebeto who are very experienced and capable of getting us goals,” noted the former Harambee Stars midfielder.

He acknowledged he is excited to lead the club on its maiden domestic final, insisting his players are equally ecstatic.

“We are completely ignoring the fact that Gor have not been scoring goals in the recent matches, everyone knows our problems that we seek to fix in the match.”

K’Ogalo top scorer Jacques Tuyisenge has not netted in 11, a statistic that has raised concerns over their ability to edge out the Muhoroni based club as they seek a third Top 8 crown following success in 2012 and 15.

The winner carries home Ksh1m and a trophy.