By Robin Toskin
Gor Mahia’s juggernaut rolls on! The target, unmistakably, is to knock AFC Leopards off their perch in the Kenyan Premier League table.
Although K’Ogalo’s match with Sony Sugar yesterday at City Stadium was so much about the millers’ desire to chalk up more points as was for Gor Mahia to keep up chasing the leading pack, the fans, in their thousands, had other ideas.
For, no sooner had Ivan Anguyo risen to head home the solitary goal in the 82nd minute than the fans mockingly burst into AFC Leopards’ now famous celebration; Ingwe! Ingwe! Ingwe!
So delirious was the call that it would be unimaginable the Ingwe Nation has not heard the mocking celebration, 13 days to their eternal derby.
Tom Mboya
K’Ogalo faithful took over city streets, making what is fast becoming a pilgrimage to the statue of freedom fighter Tom Mboya.
Remarkably, the catcalls are neither the first nor the last. They have reverberated ever since AFC Leopards chickened out of their KPL Top 8 quarterfinal match.
To their credit, Gor Mahia has eaten up the ground to creep to within three points of AFC Leopards to stoke embers of a potentially biggest derby in Kenya in the 21st century.
AFC Leopards on the other hand has stalled, barely cranking up a point here and there such that their 0-0 draw against Tusker on Friday may have felt like a full three points. How they drew, especially with goalkeeper Patrick Matasi seemingly with a generous spread of margarine on his gloves leaving Ingwe fans with their hearts in the mouth, was miraculous.
At the end of yesterday’s encounter, Gor Mahia coach Zdravko Logarusic was effusive, flashing the two-finger salute to an appreciative crowd.
But the win came at a cost of freezing nerves as Sony Sugar frustrated Gor Mahia by slowing down the tempo of the match.
