Kagere clips old club as Gor take Rayon away point

Gor Mahia spurned gilt-edged chances to settle for a one-all-draw against Rayon Sports of Rwanda in a Caf-Confederation Cup group campaign at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo in Kigali on Sunday.

Meddie Kagere put K’Ogalo ahead in the ninth minute when he latched onto a Humphrey Mieno through pass to beat the offside trap and calmy plant the ball into the net, silencing the huge Rayon crowd that had filled the 20,000seater capacity stadium to the rafters.

This lead would however not last as the hosts levelled in the 23rd minute.

Eric Rutanga took adventage of the free kick awarded after a Joash Onyango foul, firing in a sublime effort which left Gor’s custodian Boniface Oluoch with no chance between the sticks.

Shortly thereafter, the skies opened for a downpour and so did the tempo of the game increase, with each side prodding  but to no avail.

Conceding barely 12 minutes after  taking the lead seemed to unsettle nerves at Gor`s backline as a comedy of error by skipper Harun Shakava nearly gifted winger Shabani Hussein with an easy goal but Oluoch was alert to thwart the danger in the 34th minute.

The poor conditions did not improve after the break with the rain-swept pitch becoming tricky to navigator for either side.

The first real chance of the second half fell for K`Ogalo, after some neat buid-up at the centre of the pack but play-maker Francis Kahata who had the ultimate chance bent his shot to the far right corner from 20yards out, missing the target by some five inches.

In a bid to add more bite to his team`s play, Rayon Sports coach Ivan Minnaert pullen out Ismaila Diarra and brought in Pierre Kwizera.

It didn’t take long thereafter for the hosts to trouble Gor with dangerman Muhire Kevin making dangerous jinking runs into the visitors box.

Gor however suffered a late blow after George “Blackberry” Odhiambo picked an injury, and in his place came Lawrence Juma, but even then Kahata should have snatched maximum points from the tie but he missed an open chance with just seven minutes left on the clock, and the reaction of his coach Dylan Kerr told it all.

With the away point earned, Gor will now have to work on tightening it`s erratic defence before they face group favourites Algiers of Algeria.

Gor Mahia Line-up

Starting XI:

29 Boniface Oluoch, 18 Haron Shakava, 12 Joash Onyango, 26 Philemon Otieno, 2 Godfrey Walusimbi, 20 Ernest Wendo, 30 Humprey Mieno, 25 George Odhiambo(Lawrence Juma) 8 Francis Kahata, 9 Jacques Tuyisenge, 22 Meddie Kagere

Subs:

16. Shaban Odhoji, 27. Charles Momanyi, 10. Cercidy Okeyo, 11. Boniface Omondi, 14. Kevin Omondi, 19. Ephrem Guikan, 24. Lawrence Juma