AFC Leopards head coach Patrick Aussems waxed philosophical after his charges squandered an early lead to share spoils with a hard-battling Bidco United at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.
The Belgian, who cast a forlorn and dejected figure in the dugout after the full-time whistle, jumped to the defence of his charges insisting it would be unfair to judge them on the basis of Sunday's outcome.
Leopards, hungry for a win from the start, dialled up pressure on their opponents and it wasn't long before centre-back Robert Mudenyu broke through the watertight Bidco backline to fire his side ahead in the 13th minute.
Bidco clawed back to restore parity in the 26th minute following a goalmouth melee.
“You can choose to see a glass either half empty or half full. In the last 10 games, we have only lost once. Today, we started well in the first 15 minutes but I don't know exactly what happened thereafter because we were too aloof from the opponents and allowed them to play,” Aussems said.
“We were better off in the second half where we played with a higher tempo and possessed more. We created a lot of opportunities but as usual, we were not efficient enough.”
The gaffer said a point is better than none.
“I believe we deserved to win but sometimes if you are not able to pull off a win then you must fight to make sure you walk away with at least a point, which we did,” he said.
His opposite number, Anthony Akhulia, extolled his charges for squeezing out a vital away point from their opponents, who have a history of bagging maximum points at home.
“I think we played well. The team generally put on a commendable performance given Leopards are yet to lose at home in all their previous matches,” Akhulia said.
“We had a slow start to the league but we have grown up and the team have gelled fast. We are fighting in each and every match to salvage a point."
Akhulia described their next encounter against Talanta as a must-win.
“We are facing Talanta in our next assignment and we definitely need to win, considering we lost to them in the first leg encounter,” Akhulia said.
Elsewhere, newly-appointed German tactician Andreas Spier led record champions Gor Mahia to an emphatic 3-1 win over Posta Rangers at Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
Champions Tusker stunned Bandari 2-0 at Mbaraki Stadium while leaders Kakamega Homeboyz settled for a one-all draw with Nzoia Sugar at Bukhungu Stadium.
Sofapaka and Kenya Police played out to a barren draw at Wundanyi Stadium.
