AFC Leopards coach Patrick Aussems has revealed why his side suffered a painful 2-1 defeat against rivals Kakamega Homeboyz in the semi-finals of the Mozzart Bet FKF Cup on Saturday.
Goals from strikers Moses Shummah and Kevin Amwayi enabled Homeboyz to keep their hopes of winning the domestic trophy for the first time ever in history while condemning AFC to another season without silverware.
Aussems now believes two big individual mistakes allowed their Western rivals to take the bragging rights in the Ingo derby.
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“What else can I say… what can I say really, we can only blame ourselves because we committed two individual mistakes and we got punished,” said Aussems.
“We did not play the way I wanted us to play especially in the first half because we gave them [Homeboyz] too much room to dictate the tempo and you know against such a team that is defending very well, it becomes difficult to get your way back if you concede the way we did.”
On if Cliff Nyakeya’s late consolation could have sparked a comeback for Ingwe, Aussems said: “We scored only a few minutes to the end of the game but Homeboyz defended really well and we did not have enough time to equalise and even take the game to extra-time or penalties.”
Homeboyz coach Patrick Odhiambo praised his charges for a resilient display insisting the victory was for the team fans.
“The victory was very important for the Homeboyz family, our team, and our fans, and for the history of the team,” said Odhiambo.
“We had already decided before this game that whatever happens at the end, AFC must lose, they [AFC] had no option to get away without defeat and whatever it could take they had to lose, and they have lost.”
Homeboyz will now face Tusker, who defeated Ulinzi Stars 1-0 in the other semis clash, in the final.