Stima vow to come back stronger after KPL miss

Nairobi Stima head coach George Awoko has told his charges to chin up and regroup for a fresh start after falling just short of gaining promotion to the Kenyan Premier League (KPL).

Stima lost 3-2 on aggregate to Posta Rangers in the promotion playoff after the second leg played on Wednesday ended a 1-1 stalemate at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos.

Awoko drew positives from the setback and urged the team that finished third in the National Super League (NSL) to put up a stronger fight next season.

“It’s a game of football and we cannot go against the results, but it was a good match for us and to top it up it was surely a good experience and we should positively shift our focus to next season,” Awoko said.

The tactician commended his charges for displaying a pleasant game despite battling one of the solid sides with immense experience.

Awoko now eyes on retaining most of his players in order to be among the top contenders to make way to the KPL next season after missing out by an inch.

“We tried our best but it was unfortunate that we did not win the play-off, we have a bold unit which is a combination of senior and young players and I am looking to hold almost all of them and work towards ahead automatic qualification next season,”

Stima talisman, David Oalo who bundled the 2018/2019 NSL golden boot after netting 24 goals, was on target in the return-leg after netting the lone goal for Stima.

Stima missed by a whisker a chance to get direct promotion to the KPL after losing their prospects to Kisumu All Stars on an 8-goal deficit after they tallied on 80 points, with Wazito and Kisumu All-Stars earning direct promotion.