AFC Leopards Chairman Boniface Ambani has insisted that there is nothing else Ingwe wants apart from the league, after surviving a scare to narrowly beat Posta Rangers 2-1 on Saturday at Nyayo National Stadium during a Kenya Premier League (KPL) weekend clash.
Speaking in Nairobi exclusively to Radio Generation after the final whistle, the 12-time KPL champions' chairman said that after their Shield Cup exit, the only reasonable thing to do was to pile pressure on Gor Mahia until they crack and lose, and then win a title that has evaded them for more than two decades now.
" Yes, we crashed out of the Shield Cup; it happens, it was a bad day in the office, but here we are still in contention for the league title. There is nothing else to talk about here. We are going to win the league," an optimistic Ambani promised.
The Leopards started well, dominating a first half that saw Kelly Madada's left-footed 25-yard screamer find the roof of the net, an opener that caught Posta's custodian Fredrick Odhiambo unawares in the 11th minute, a goal that gave Ingwe an edge.
14 minutes later, Samuel Semo started a quick short corner kick to the captain, then Kayci Odhiambo, who slotted home again, but this time around on the right side of the roof, a deserving two-goal lead headed to the break.
Rangers coach Collins Omondi had to tactically amend his formation, sending former Ingwe winger Caleb Olilo wide on the right, pushing left-footed defender Faustine Ojiambo up to join the midfield when attacking, an idea that gave former Gor Mahia anchor man Bernard Ondieki more space to spread the balls wide because Ingwe had pulled out Tyson Otieno in the midfield.
Omondi's idea was rewarded in the 69th minute when Ponda Karisa scored a composed beauty, that saw him beat Emmanuel Lwangu on the right side, seat Musa Oundo down on his rears, tease Kayci Odhiambo for a shot, only to also seat him down and walk the ball in for an equaliser; a mouth-watering goal, who's beauty can only be equated to the shining diamonds in Botswana's Jwaneng mines.
Omondi's charges controlled the game, created chances, but missed them with Veron Ombima, Brian Marita, and second-half substitute Eliud Lokuwam all coming close, only to miss by a mere whisker.
12th on the log with only 24 points, the loss has now condemned the mail men to a nine-game winless streak, but for Ingwe, Ambani's dream is coming closer as he has now cut table leaders K'ogalo's lead to only three points, Ingwe's now at 40, but Gor leads with 43.
Leopards who are now six matches unbeaten, got their eleventh victory overall, though scrappy, but with glee, as they now hope and pray that record champions Gor Mahia drop points on Sunday against Robert Matano's KCB, at the same venue; an event that will give them hope as they wait on the same opponents, next week on Thursday, again, at the same venue, at 4 pm.
