Administration Police Service (APS) Bomet coach, Charles Odera, is in a jolly mood after guiding his side to a maiden National Super League title on Wednesday.
Odera's dream of gracing the Kenyan Premier League stage came true barely two months after taking charge of the side.
The law enforcers sealed promotion following a hard-fought 1-0 win over Mara Sugar at the Bomet IAAF Stadium.
Eric Juma's superb strike late in the second half was all the Bomet lads needed to seal the title. The breakthrough came after a flurry of missed chances. Odera has attributed its success to teamwork, resilience, and discipline.
“We are certainly proud to be champions and securing a promotion slot is the icing on the cake. We worked extremely hard to achieve this.
“We maintained calmness and put in a good show against Mara at home despite the pressure that comes with being at the top,” a visibly elated Odera said.
The win over Mara fired APS to 68 points with only two more rounds of play left to conclude the season.
APS appointed Odera two months ago on May 11 with express instructions to help them seal the top-flight promotion. He was brought in to replace Benedict Wanjala who left for rivals, Mombasa Elites.
Upon his appointment, Odera promised to fire the side to top-flight promotion, a feat he achieved on Wednesday.
“I'm committed to ensuring the club performs well. I promise to keep the fire burning until we get promoted,” Odera said then.
The National Police Service Twitter handle went ecstatic moments after APS clinched the title.
“Our APS Bomet team has a ruthless focus on the prize and is poised to end the season on a high, knowing very well that the end of this race marks the beginning of a more challenging one,” read the post.
“We can't wait to witness future 'friendly fire' Derbies between APS Bomet and Police FC.”
APS's path to promotion was plain sailing after second-placed Fortune Sacco succumbed 2-0 to Migori Youth at Migori Stadium.
Fortune and Muhoroni Youth are each eyeing the other promotion slot. The runners-up will gain automatic promotion as the third finisher battles in the promotion/relegation playoffs later in the year.
Muhoroni Youth boosted their promotion chances after rallying from a goal down to pip Naivas 2-1 at the Camp Toyoyo grounds on Wednesday.
Brian Ouru's 25th-minute effort put Naivas ahead and the Nairobi-based side could have easily bagged maximum had Abubakar Suleiman not ruined the party with a 96th-minute effort and Charles Ometo not turned the ball into his net.
The outcome left Muhoroni Youth third on the log with 59 points, one adrift of Fortune Sacco. Fortune can only bag a maximum of 66 points from their remaining fixtures.
Muli Children's Family (MCF) thumped Coastal Heroes 6-0 at the Thika Sub County Stadium to take their tally to 54 points as Gusii United beat SS Assad 3-2 at Awendo Green Stadium.
