Struggling Rangers hold dull Bandari to a barren draw in Machakos

Struggling Rangers hold dull Bandari to a barren draw in Machakos

Struggling Posta Rangers forced visiting Bandari to a barren stalemate, in a dull Kenyan Premier League (KPL) encounter at the Kenyatta Stadium Machakos on Sunday.

Bandari started without key players Hassan Abdallah and injured captain Felly Mulumba, but dominated the match making it a one sided affair in the first half.

Posta survived the several scares in their rather lackluster show, but still their coach John Kamau felt his charges deserved maximum points.

“I have lost two points, I can’t talk much about the one gained. I felt in the second half we deserved something but it never happened. Something I’m confident about is that we are not going anywhere, we will be in KPL next season. At least in this journey, for today, we didn’t go home empty handed,” said Kamau in an indirect reference to the relegation fears dogging his side.

His opposite number Bernard Mwalala slammed his players for lack of intention and wastefulness, saying they were lucky to get a point.

“I thought after first half we knew the full time result we would either draw or lose, because of the many missed chances. We came back and the players became overzealous in goal hunt forgetting how to shape the game generally.

“I was not happy with how we wasted the chances we got though I feel we deserved a penalty, maybe it would have changed everything. I cannot however blame the referee because we failed to score, several open chances,” lamented Mwalala.

Shaban Kenga was the first to try Posta’s keeper Gradus Ochieng in the second minute, before supplying Yema Mwana in the fourth with a sumptuous cross only to connect casually to the keeper’s delight.

There was nothing to show from the mailmen in the first quarter, and Wadri, Kenga, Mwana and Hamisi Mwinyi kept on knocking at the opponent’s goal albeit without the desired punch and panache.

In the 13th minute, Wadri lost a one-on-one opportunity with Ochieng in Posta’s box, having been set up by Hamisi Mwinyi, shooting off target with the keeper already off his line.

The first real chance for Kamau’s men came in the 23rd minute, when Gearson Likono forced Kenya international Farouk Shikhalo to tip the ball over the bar with a cleverly taken free-kick just outside the box.

Just after the half-hour mark, Ochieng denied Darius Msagha in the six-yard-box, having traded a series of passes with Wadri only to lose his footing before pulling the trigger.

Up to the end of the first stanza, Posta were generally enjoying the proceedings with the way they thwarted Bandari’s promising attempts, making few futile counter-attack attempts.

Upon resumption, Bandari’s Mwalala withdrew extremely dull Msagha for Hassan, adding the mettle that was lacking in the first half in their attack.

His opposite number Kamau brought on Felix Oluoch for Herit Mungai, responding to increased action in their final third largely by Abdallah’s presence.

Value in terms of possession increased for the visitors, but the Posta defence remained steadfast.

Fred Nkata’s well taken free kick almost broke the deadlock with Wadri connecting but Charles Odette did well to clear near the line as the match ended 0-0 confirming Mwalala’s view that his side is completely out of the title race.

Tags:

Bandari Bernard Mwalala Kenyan Premier League Posta Rangers machakos 0-0 draw John Kamau

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