Post Match: W. Stima (A)

Leopards fell 2-1 to Western Stima at Afraha Stadium.

MichezoAfrika writes:-

AFC Leopards’ Tusker Premier League  title ambitions suffered a huge setback  on Saturday after a shock 2-1 loss to Western Stima at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium. Wesley Kemboi’s brace ensured the power men went home not only with cash from gate collection but also three points richer.

Western Stima was the first to attack. Wesley Kemboi fed Alloyce Mangi whose feeble shot was easily collected by Bernard Tiema. AFC Leopards followed with Paul Were making a good run on the left flank but his cross to Allan Wanga was intercepted by Stima keeper BenRoberts Mandela.

In the 14th minute keeper Tiema failed free kick landed to Wesley Kemboi but the latter squandered one of the easiest chances by shooting to the top of the bar.Kemboi made amends  for his earlier miss with a well-placed free header in the 17th minute following a cross by Alloyce  Mangi to give Stima the lead.

A disjointed AFC leopards easily lost possession and blunt attacking left the hosts defender with little to worry on.A free kick awarded to AFC after a foul on Paul Were fell to Martin Imbalambala but his shot was nowhere close to the target.

AFC coach Jans Koops must have hard enough of the lackluster performance and he swung into action by making a double substitution five minutes to the interval. Mike Baraza came in for Laurent Tumba while Charles Okwemba paved way for Jimmy Bageya.

Another defensive lapse gifted an unmarked Wesley Kemboi an easy goal to double the advantage at the extra minutes of the first period.

AFC Leopards enjoyed a good spell at the one hour mark but Allan Wanga misfired when two good chances fell his way.

Alloyce Mangi would have made it 3-0 after a Jonas Nahimana blunder but he misplaced his shot. In the 76th minute, Mangi had another chance but couldn’t keep his shot on target.

Mike Barasa pulled one back in the 77th minute with a solo effort that beat BenRoberts Mandela to bring some joy to the many Ingwe faithfuls at Afraha.

A last minute foul on Allan Wanga won AFC a free kick that Martin Imbalambala shot straight at keeper Tiema’s gloves.

The loss leaves AFC Leopards just two points below Gor Mahia who they meet in a must watch top of the bill derby next weekend at Kasarani.

Futaa writes:-

Western Stima beat AFC Leopards 2-1 in a Tusker Premier League match at the Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on Saturday 15 September 2012 to dent Leopards' title hopes.

Wesley Kemboi was the hero for Stima, as his first half double silenced the large Leopards following in Nakuru.

Mike Baraza gave Leopards hope late on, but it was not enough, to effectively throw open the 2012 title race.

Stima took the lead on 16 minutes, Kemboi heading home after a great cross by Alloys Mangi to give the home side the lead at their temporary home.

Afterwards, they looked like adding more, as Leopards were off the pace and all over the place in midfield.

Coach Jan Koops, who was quiet all afternoon made his first piece of movement on the day, a double substitution just before the break, Mike Baraza and Jimmy Bageya for the very poor Charles Okwemba and Laurent Tumba.

Despite the subs, it was Stima who added a second, when  a defensive blunder by Leopards keeper Barnabas Tiema and left back Idrissa Rajab handed Kemboi a clean run in goal and he did not need a second invitation, as he made it 2-0 just on the stroke of half time. 

The second half was much better from Leopards, who knew they had to chase the game.

Baraza and Paul Were would have good opportunities to score, but poor first touches let them down.

They would eventually score though as Baraza's weak effort spilled past Stima keeper Ben Roberts Mandela and into the net to make for an interesting last few minutes.

However, with Stima having ten men behind the ball at all times, it was always difficult for Leopards, as they slumped to defeat.

Daily Nation wrote:-

Wesley Kemboi’s two goals in the first half were enough to electrocute a disjointed AFC Leopards 2-1 in a tense Kenya Premier League (KPL) match played at Afraha stadium, Nakuru on Saturday.

In Thika, hosts Thika United FC were made to work hard before eventually seeing off Rangers FC 4-0 while in Nairobi, Nairobi City Stars battled to a 1-1 draw with Mathare United at Hope Centre.

Joseph Mwangi opened the scoring for Mathare early in the second half before Bruno Sserenkuma - no relation to Gor Mahia’s Dan Sserunkuma - equalised several minutes later in a match the home side will feel they deserved better than a share of the points.

In Nakuru, Kemboi, who was the destroyer-in-chief, tamed the visiting Leopards to increase his goal tally in the league to four.

“I dedicate these two goals to my two-year-old daughter Lesley Chepkoech,” said the 26-year-old Kemboi, who is still a casual worker at Kenya Power.

It was simply not Leopards’ day as they failed to penetrate past Western Stima’s defence which was well marshalled by David Otieno.

Western Stima, who played a cool game, invaded Leopards’ defence and after a quarter of fine exchanges, Aloise Mangi made a brilliant run on the touchline and released a well-weighted cross which was firmly headed home by Kemboi past goalkeeper Barnabas Tiema.

Leopards should have cancelled the lead in the 35th minute but Laurent Tumba, with a yawning goal at his mercy, blasted over the cross bar.

As referee Tom Onyango was preparing to signal for the end of the first half, Kemboi, who had a fruitful day in the office, collected a lose ball inside the box and rounded a defender before beating the advancing Leopards custodian Tiema with powerful ground shot.

Leopards’ consolation goal was scored by second half substitute Mike Baraza who rolled with the ball on the left wing and unleashed a punishing grass cutter past goalkeeper Ben Roberts Mandela.

“Our defence was prone to many mistakes and this is because our key defender Eric Masika was not in the starting line up ,” said AFC Leopards coach Jan Koops.

“This is a big and worrying defeat for us. We are now only separated by two points from our arch-rivals Gor Mahia. We lacked our usual fighting spirit which came too late in the second half,” added Koops.

On his part coach Henry Omino was satisfied with the results.

“This is not the first time I’m beating Leopards as a coach as I have beaten them when I handled Kisumu Posta and Agro Chemical and I attribute our victory to proper planning,” said Omino.

Soon after the match angry Leopards fans held the team bus hostage in the pitch for a few minutes before anti-riot police intervened.

“We need an explanation from the technical bench because they are paid well and have insurance cover among other fringe benefits yet they are losing easy points when the league is at its critical stages,” yelled a fan as he stood in front of the bus.

Standard wrote:-

Leopards title hopes continued to dwindle when Western Stima thrashed them 2-1 at Afraha Stadium on Saturday.

Western Stima took the lead in the 17^th minute with a goal from Wesley Kemboi. Kemboi dashed Leopards title hopes when he scored his second goal in the 45^th minute.

Henry Omino, Western Stima coach had vowed to silence the title chasing Leopards.
The result comes as a huge relief for Gor Mahia who now trail Leopards with two points having played the same number matches.

AFC Leopards’ efforts proved futile throughout the match with a blunt striking force and uncoordinated defence.

Leopards got their consolation goal through Mike Baraza in the 78^th minute.

KPL website writes:-

AFC Leopards were wrong if they thought they could defy history. They had never beaten Western Stima outside Nairobi in modern Premiership era. An after the first half at Afraha Stadium on Saturday they were down 0-2, courtesy of a Wesley Kemboi double to eventually suffer a painful defeat in their Tusker Premier League title quest.

Was it misplaced confidence? Jan Koops had started with his most mature and resourceful forward, Mike Baraza on the bench. The reality check was complete after the first half and Baraza had to be brought in to kick off the second period. He, in the end got the only one score back for Leopards in the 78th minute.

Leopards’ turning up in strange white, instead of their normal red and black stripes of away matches, even suggested a team contemptuous of traditional time-tested ways.
The only people with an away white kit that will be celebrating are Gor Mahia, Leopards’ arch rivals who now trail the leading Leopards by only two points; both teams having played 24 matches.
A crunch meeting of the two is in the very next fixture, on September 23, at the International Sports Centre, Kasarani. Leopards reverting back to the blue and white hoops of home fixtures and Gor Mahia most likely being in their away white strip will be a complete reversal of Leopards’ dress mode at Afraha.

Tweaking with the team looked like a bad omen for Leopards. Barnabas Tiema, without much playing time this season, was in goal, perhaps because Patrick Matasi was being punished for a poor performance two weeks ago when he conceded twice in the 0-2 defeat by KCB.

While Tiema started well with a couple of good cut offs of crosses, he should have done better against Kemboi’s opening header and should not have come out of his position as awkwardly as he did for the next which central defenders Amon Muchiri and Jonas Nahimana should have dealt with.

After trailing, as a team, Leopards fought for a turn-around but some lack of tact, good thinking and execution by some individual player, specifically Paul Were, Jimmy Bagaye and Allan Wanga was a yawning letdown.

Bagaye was aimless in runs, Were’s pass was infuriatingly poor, coming short mostly, and Wanga lacked ideas.

Take, for instance, a long video study of Were’s opportunity inside the box in the 58th minute. The way he blew the chance, making unnecessary 1-2-3 touches, instead of just one, requires him to think, seriously, whether he aspires to be a long-term footballer.
Thank God, Leopards had Baraza to trouble Stima who, however, were so cool that a stranger like Henry Michel, the legendary Frenchman who is now Kenya coach and was watching, will be wondering why he has heard so much about Leopards since arrival and nothing about the rural lads who were giving the City boys a bloody nose.

In the 61st minute Wanga was in the box, receiving a perfect pass from Baraza but instead of lowering his head to nod in the ball that was shoulder height, he struggled to chest it in order to bring it down and the chance was gone.

So it was Western Stima, instead who would have made it 3-0 even before Baraza’s goal but Aloyce Mangi, on two occasions, allowed adrenaline to rush him and blast away opportunities instead of guiding the ball through in the 73rd and 77th minutes.

But the two missed chances were the only blot in a spectacular performance by Mangi who was an excellent playmaker, throughout, for Stima. He was involved in both his team's goals.


TEAMS:
WESTERN STIMA - 1. Ben Mandela: 26. Hudson Muhako, 2. Jackson Saleh, 15. Robert Kwaye, 5. Davis Otieno, 19. George Wesa (captain), 7. Ahmed Ali Bai (10.Omar Balala, 69'), 14. Frederick Shimonyo, 8. Aloyce Mangi, 13. Wesley Kemboi, 20. Justin Monda ( 9. Dennis Onkangi, 70')
Reserves not used -18. Patrick Ck Onyango, Gk; 28. Isaac Odhiambo, 17. Daniel Onyango, 12. Job Omuse, 21. Francis Chinjili
Scorers - 13. Wesley Kemboi (17', 45+')
Coach - Henry Omino
AFC LEOPARDS - 19. Barnabas Tiema: 5. Edwin Wafula, 14. Amon Muchiri, 17. Jonas Nahimana, 46. Idrissa Rajab, 4. Martin Imbalambala (captain), 22. Bernard Mang’oli, 10. Charles Okwemba (11. Mike Barasa, 46'), 44. Paul Were, 9. Allan Wanga, 8. Laurent Tumba (50. Jimmy Bagaye, 46')
Reserves not used - Patrick Matasi, Gk; 3. Abbasi Kiwalabye, 34. Victor Ochieng’, 7. Oscar Kadenge, 12. Augustine Etemesi
Scorer - 11. Mike Baraza (78')
Coach - Jan Koops [The Netherlands]
* * * *
Referee - Tom Onyango
Assistant ref - Peter Sabatia
Asst ref - George Okerio
Reserve ref - Amos Wanjala
Match commissioner - Joseph Mboss

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