A second half brace by Meddie Kagere against Zanzibar’s Jango’mbe Boys at Uhuru Stadium, Dar Es Salaam was enough to send Gor Mahia to the semi finals of the inaugural Sportpesa Super Cup.
Timothy Otieno partnered with Kagere in search of goal in the first half with Francis Kahata supplying ammunition to the duo who failed to put the ball past the goal-line in the first half. In the absence of Musa Mohammed who is away on duty with the national team, Joash Onyango replaced him along Harun Shakava with Wellington Ochieng and
Mike Simiyu manning the flanks. Ex-Mathare United goalkeeper, Peter Odhiambo, stood in for Boniface Oluoch who is also away on national duty.
Gor, who are eying their fourth regional title had to put up with a physical opponent with medics called to action on a number of occasions though no major injuries were reported.
After a barren first half,the Rwandese international broke the deadlock in the 64th minute by nodding in Onyango’s cross to become the first player to score in the tournament from open play. Jango’mbe who top the Zanzibar League rallied for an equalizer but their moves did not trouble the 15-time Kenyan Premier League winners failing to register a shot on target in the half.
Moments later,Kagere stepped in to score from the spot, sending Ali Sheha the wrong way, after Shomar Said had handled in the box.
Sensing a win, Zedekiah Otieno made several changes, replacing
Anthony Mbugua with Timothy Otieno as Kagere came off for Amos Nondi.
John Ndirangu replaced a tired Francis Kahata as Kenneth Muguna paved way for a defence-minded Oliver Maloba.
Gor will play the winner between Nakuru All Stars and Simba SC in the semi finals. Gor joins their bitter rivals AFC Leopards and Yanga FC In the semis after the duo eliminated Singida FC and Tusker FC respectively.
