Nzoia Sugar's head coach, Salim Babu, has extolled his charges for cracking the second spot on the Kenyan Premier League table after surmounting a tough challenge to pip Ulinzi Stars at Sudi Stadium on Tuesday.
Yassin Sije's 24th-minute splendid strike was all the Bungoma-based millers needed to silence their hard-battling rivals who came to the match on the back of four consecutive wins.
The sugar millers maintained their unbeaten run at home with the slim victory which also enabled them to complete a double against Ulinzi this season.
"We prepared well for this match and our performance spoke volumes about our resolve to remain in the contention bracket," the visibly elated gaffer quipped in a post-match interview.
The seasoned gaffer showered his backline with praises for remaining compact throughout the thrilling encounter.
“We have had issues in the defense but today we were able to plug the loophole. In the preceding match, we would score early but concede due to lapses in defending. We've worked hard to address the problem in training and our efforts appear to be bearing fruits," Babu said.
Babu said he was glad to have retained the team that wreaked havoc in the first leg after losing only one player in the ongoing transfer window.
“We have recently suffered numerous setbacks, owing to some injuries incurred by squad members before the break. I'm happy everyone is back and we have every player on the team except Felicien Okanda who has linked up with Kakamega Homeboyz."
His opposite number at Ulinzi, Bernard Mwalala, said they had given their best shot only that they had a bad day in office.
"We expected a tough challenge from our opponents especially considering they had the home advantage. The slim scoreline speaks for itself, a clear indication that we came here for serious business," Mwalala said.
"Of course, the defeat is a setback to our title aspirations and we shall be going back to the drawing board to amend our shortcomings in this match as we eye a better outcome in our next match," Mwalala said.
The visitors had a perfect opportunity to draw level in the 38th minute but Boniface Muchiri failed to connect a brilliant cross from Stephen Etyang.
The outcome left Ulinzi seventh on the log with 32 points, this being their fifth loss in 23 encounters this season.
