• Peter Thiongo nets a brace for the Homeboyz in the win
•John Mwangi scored the consolation for the slumboys
Kakamega Homeboyz moved four points within the reach of Kenyan Premier League leaders Gor Mahia after outclassing ten-man Mathare United 3-1 yesterday at the Kenyatta Stadium Machakos.
Despite the win which took them second on the log as well returned them to their winning ways, coach Nicholas Muyoti raised concerns over his defence for conceding in back to back matches."I am happy we have won having lost our last match to Gor Mahia but i am concerned with my defence for failing to keep clean sheets in our matches. It's an area I want to improve on as we can not put up with conceding cheap goals. I have no problem with my attacking front but we have to fix the defence,"
The match was delayed for almost 15 minutes due to a heavy downpour but action began after the showers subsided. It was a nervous start for both teams who seemed struggled to make inroads in the final third but it was Mathare who settled first.
The slum boys comfortably executed their philosophy of short passes but their build-up were met by an equal force by the Homeboyz defence which sprayed long passes to the speedy forwards.
While Mathare's displays were are a beauty to watch, Homeboyz equally impressive with their counterattacks where the duo of Stephen Etyang and Peter Thiong'o causing all sorts of problems to Mathare's back line.
The first half seemed headed for a barren draw but Thiong'o rose high in the final seconds to break the deadlock. The former St Joseph's Youth winger wittingly sprinted behind Andrew Juma who failed to clear the cross to head the ball past a hapless Job Ochieng.
Thiong'o picked from where he left six minutes after restart, racing past his markers to tap in Shami Kibwana's defence-splitting pass to complete his brace.
Having fallen behind,coach Salim Ali made his first change, resting Clifford Alwanga for John Mwangi who justified his inclusion in the 62nd minute heading home Martin Ongori's cross to half the deficit.
The goal handed Mathare the much-needed impetus to restore parity, launching spirited onslaughts in the Homeboyz area but their efforts were thwarted by the defence.
Their bid to level matters was dealt a blow in the 80th after Roy Okal received his marching orders for a last man challenge on Thiong'o.
The numerical deficit was felt a minute later as David Okoth netted the third goal to put off Mathare's hopes of staging a comeback.
The loss,their second for the season was a bitter pill for Ali to swallow and directed his anger to his players for lack of concentration."It was a below-par performance from my players.We lost concentration at crucial stages of the match.It will be tough preparing for our next match without Okal but we will sit down and see how his shoes shall be filled,"
Meanwhile after hitting a brace,Thiong'o opened up of his dream to claim the season's Golden boot. The youngster took his tally to five, two shy of Tusker's Timothy Otieno."I am happy with the two goals which I hope will inspire me to keep on working hard.Hopefully this is my season to win the Golden boot,"