AFC Leopards head coach Tomas Trucha, who was overseeing his first derby, has jumped into the defense of goalkeeper Levis Opiyo, whom Ingwe fans blamed for the blunder that led to the goal against Gor Mahia on Sunday.
Former Ingwe player Austin Odhiambo capitalised on a goalkeeping howler by IOpiyo, who was forced to commit the mistake by the advancing striker Benson Omalla, to stab home what turned out to be the winner to the delight of K’Ogalo faithful.
“Levis (Opiyo) is not the reason we lost, he may have committed the mistake but I solely cannot blame him for the defeat, as a team we should have done better with the number of chances we created, it was the kind of a game where chances (if properly used) could make the difference and missing our chances did not help us neither,” Trucha told reporters after the game.
“With the quality we had, we should have done more, I want to apologize to the fans for the defeat, they came in large numbers anticipating us to win but we did not,” added Trucha.
On his part, Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry admitted the win had increased their chances of winning a record 21st league title. “We have taken a step forward and can now start smelling the title,” said McKinstry.
“Police are trying to keep the pace after their win against Sofapaka so we must keep winning our matches to stay on course, we must keep picking the points, that is the most important part, we know what our targets are and we will keep pushing and see where we will be at the end of the season.”
On his plans for the remaining fixtures, the Northern Irish tactician said: “We know it will not be easy, we are now playing against teams that are fighting against relegation, and also mid-table teams that are very difficult to play against at this stage of the campaign because they have nothing to lose.
“It becomes difficult playing such teams and for example, we play Murang’a Seal, a side with great football, and they like to play the game but we have to keep focus and win our matches and I am confident at 69 points it can win you the league.”
The defeat left Ingwe in position eighth with 38 points accumulated from nine wins, 11 draws, and seven defeats.