Kapaito Fishes Sharks Out Of SportPesa Shield Upset, Gor In Tough Bandari Test
1st April 2019
Last season's league Most Valuable Player proves the difference in 1-0 victory over hard-fighting Murang'a Seals, record domestic winners travel to Mombasa in daunting test
- Victory kept Sharks, who went down to a 1-2 defeat to SportPesa Premier League (SPL) winners Gor Mahia FC on Saturday in Kisumu on the hunt for a second successive domestic cup following their maiden victory last year where they downed three-time competition winners, Sofapaka FC 3-2 in the final
- Kapaito, who has started his season late following injury that kept him out of action at the start of the campaign, produced the winner in the second half when his looping effort was fumbled by the Muranga keeper, allowing the ball to trickle into the net
- The last Gor outfit to clinch the treble was the legendary 1987 side that swept the domestic league and cups before stunning Tunisian giants, Esperance de Tunis in the final of the CAF Cup Winners Cup (Mandela Cup) that has since been discontinued
NAIROBI, Kenya- Holders Kariobangi Sharks FC avoided an early exit from the 2019 SportPesa Shield tournament when they laboured to a 1-0 victory over Murang'a Seal FC on Monday evening to advance to the round of 16 at Nairobi's Camp Toyoyo grounds.
Victory kept Sharks, who went down to a 1-2 defeat to SportPesa Premier League (SPL) winners Gor Mahia FC on Saturday in Kisumu on the hunt for a second successive domestic cup following their maiden victory last year where they downed three-time competition winners, Sofapaka FC 3-2 in the final.
The 2018 SPL Most Valuable Player and Golden Boot winner, Eric Kapaito, continued his hot streak in front of goal when he decided the contest against the FKF Division One outfit who dumped Kisumu All Stars from the Shield in the round of 64 in a fixture dubbed 'Hand Shake Derby'.
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Kapaito, who has started his season late following injury that kept him out of action at the start of the campaign, produced the winner in the second half when his looping effort was fumbled by the Muranga keeper, allowing the ball to trickle into the net.
The champions who lifted the 2019 SportPesa Cup title in Dar-es-Salaam at the end of January, then held on for the victory to avoid another huge upset and seal their place in the last 16.
Tricky test
On Sunday, joint-record 10-time domestic cup winners, AFC Leopards SC were tossed out of the tournament when they lost a nail-biting shootout 4-3 to giant-killing Bungoma Super Stars FC who claimed their first giant victim in the shape of SPL high-fliers Sofapaka in the opening round.
Gor who share the tournament record with their arch rivals Leopards are in action in the Shield on Wednesday when they face a tricky test against 2018 SPL runner-ups and SportPesa Cup beaten finalists, Bandari FC at the Mbaraki Stadium in Mombasa.
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K'Ogalo have not won on their last two visits to Bandari, losing for the first time in the league last season before their visit to the same stadium in the opening stages of the 2018/19 SPL ended in another defeat.
The Dockers on the other hand are in the midst of a slump, losing three and drawing one in their last four outings that saw their lead at the summit of the SPL evaporate into a five-point deficit against Gor who reclaimed top spot by beating Sharks.
It sets the stage for an intriguing cup contest in Mombasa as Hassan Oktay- who surrendered the SportPesa Cup title in Dar following back-to-back victories in the eight-team invitational regional knockout tournament- seeks to keep the hunt for the treble alive.
Besides assuming control of the SPL on 38 points in 17 games, with two games in hand over Sofapaka (36), Gor are still alive in the CAF Confederations Cup where they will host RSB Berkane of Morocco in the first leg of their quarterfinal in Nairobi on April 7 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
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The last Gor outfit to clinch the treble was the legendary 1987 side that swept the domestic league and cups before stunning Tunisian giants, Esperance de Tunis in the final of the CAF Cup Winners Cup (Mandela Cup) that has since been discontinued.
SportPesa Shield Round of 16 Results summary
Saturday (March 30)
Mwatate United 0(4)-0(5) Congo Boys (Wundanyi Stadium)
SS Assad 0(9)-0(8) Naivas (Ukunda Show Grounds)
Bidco United vs Dero FC (Dero FC requested to pull out of the tournament)
KCB 4-0 Vihiga Sportif (Machakos Stadium)
Sunday (March 31)
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Western Stima 2-1 Wazito (Moi Stadium Kisumu)
AFC Leopards 1(3)-1(4) Bungoma Superstars (Bukhungu Stadium)
Monday (April 1)
Kariobangi Sharks 1-0 Muranga Seal (Camp Toyoyo)
Playing Wednesday
Bandari vs Gor Mahia- Mbaraki Sports Club at 4 pm (+3GMT)