Derby spoils: Ambani, Mihic want firepower in attack

Gor Mahia head coach Sinisa Mihic and his AFC Leopards counterpart Fred Ambani have urged their striking forces to step up to the task following Sunday’s Mashemeji Derby which ended in a barren stalemate.

Speaking after the match, the two tacticians lamented the blunt sharpness of their forward line, which saw both sides fail to hit the mark, missing crucial chances in front of the passionate fans who had thronged the Nyayo Stadium to witness the 96th edition of the Mashemeji Derby.

Ambani, who was steering Ingwe for the first time in such an encounter since his heydays as player, in which he remarkably never lost even a game, said he hopes for a turnaround in the next round of the derby, after watching Boniface Munyendo, Ronald Bebeto - who all had chances in the first half  - fail to hit the target.

"I`m not satisfied with the result, we had a chance to bury the game but yes it happens, for our game we had planned to press Gor Mahia defence to get the ball, it worked to a point but we lost focus, we are not sure when the second round will be played but we have to work on our attacking, it was really shambolic.”

His opposite number, Gor’ s Mihic, rued the absence of a prolific striker, having withstood the big cats first half avalanche but failed to make their mark in order to close the gap on league leaders, the Kenya Police, who extended their lead to five at the summit of the log, with a 1-0 win over Posta Rangers.

"We had plans for the second half, they attacked us in the first half and we had to come up with a plan…”

Headlining the touchline for the first time as K'Ogalo head coach in the derby, Mihic was far from impressed by his side’s outing although the Green Army extended  their unbeaten run in the fixture, maintaining their psychological edge over Ingwe who haven't won the derby since May 14 2023 when they beat Gor 2-1. The weekend stalemate left K’Ogalo  third on the log with 43 points, five adrift of leaders Police who reclaimed top spot after a slim  1-0 win  against Posta Rangers to leapfrog Tusker who are now second with 47 points.