Ingwe held by stubborn Ushuru

AFC Leopards fell two points off the top of the SportPesa Premier League (SPL) table as Kepha Aswani converted a late penalty to earn Ingwe a vital point after going down 1-0 to a Philemon Otieno thunderbolt in the 61^st minute.

Earlier wins for fellow eighth round leaders Tusker FC and Mathare United meant Ingwe were playing catch-up and against a stubborn Ushuru side that has already caused big upsets against Tusker and Gor Mahia, they failed to cope with the pressure.

Ushuru should have opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Roosevelt Blaty embarked on a magnificent solo run, dancing his way through Ingwe’s midfield before unleashing a cracker of a shot that keeper Lucas Indeche reacted brilliantly to keep out.

A minute later, Azizi Okaka combined well with Dennis Wafula but the latter’s attempt from outside the box was too weak to trouble Indeche who made a comfortable save as the hosts piled more pressure.

As the proceedings settled and Ingwe started seeing more of the ball, it was Ushuru’s turn to stay alert with custodian Shaban Odhoji forced off his line to thwart an Aswani-led counter-attack.

It was end to end stuff in the first half with the taxmen looking the more likely of the two to break the deadlock, but neither could make their chances count.

Minnaert was forced to make a first half change as Victor Omune went down injured in the 28^th minute, bringing on Bernard Ongoma.

Indeche continued his brilliant show between the sticks, palming out a goal-bound free-kick from former Ingwe midfielder Okwemba in the 36^th minute to mark the last piece of action of an exciting first half.

After his heroics in the 2-1 comeback against Sofapaka, super sub Allan Kateregga was brought on with hopes that he could inspire another win.

Ushuru’s Ken Kenyatta made an instant tactical change, bringing on Roy Okal for Evans Kiwanuka to fizzle the impact of the agile Ugandan.

The visitors looked livelier with the introduction of Kateregga, but a blunder in their own third allowed Philemon to latch onto a loose ball and send an unstoppable shot past Indeche.

An ineffective Lamine Diallo was rested by the Belgian as he tried working out a plan to get at least one point. The change proved fruitful, as too much pressure forced David Otieno to handle the ball in his box with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.

Aswani stepped up to send Odhoji the wrong way and register his fifth goal of the season.

Ingwe executed more attacks but it was too late to notch another, as Ushuru sat tight to seal another SPL upset.

-Report by Jacob Icia-