Ayumba Ayodi
9 November 2009
Nairobi — Defending champions Telkom Orange edged out Sliders 1-0 in a thrilling top-of-the-table women's league clash at City Park on Sunday.
Though they lost, Sliders were a marvel to watch. Wearing black armbands to mourn the Agunda sisters' father, Ndeda Agunda, Sliders had a superb display of speed and execution, especially in the second half.
One could have easily dismissed Glennis Namasake's 20th minute goal as a flash in the pan owing to the series of attacks from Sliders, who virtually camped in Telkom's half for almost 20 minutes of the second half.
However, Sliders forwards lacked the killer punch to put the ball at the back of the net.
Penalty corner
Towards the end of the first session, Elizabeth Obonyo and Dorsillah Agundawent close to leave Telkom defenders gasping on the left wing. But Josephine Ataro stood firm in Telkom's goal to deny them as she parried Agunda's shot for a corner.
Sliders were at it again on resumption when Lilian Aura and Caragh Evans dummied Telkom defenders but their efforts were in vain. Aura blasted over the cross bar while Evans was tripped resulting to penalty corner that yielded nothing. Dorsillah had another chance after some crispy spadework from Nancy Chepchumba. After leaving Ataro sprawling on the turf, Dorsillah was to miss the target.
Telkom clawed back but the quality of finishing by Jacky Ogot, Pristine Njeri and Betty Tioni left many questions. Njeri turned Sliders' keeper Maureen Keya inside out only to smash the ball wide.
First defeat
The results saw Telkom uphold their unbeaten run in the league to nine matches besides stretching their lead to 25 points while Sliders slide to their first defeat in nine outings to stay second with 18 points. The two arch-rivals had battled to a 1-1 in the first leg.
"My strikers lacked the sharp edge to put the ball into the net. I really don't know what happened today," said Telkom coach Jos Openda.
In the men's Premier League, defending champions, Kisumu Simba, had mixed fortunes in their tour of Nairobi last weekend. They went down 0-1 to Green Sharks on Saturday before pulling a 1-0 victory over Parkroad on Monday.
Kisumu Simba remained in sixth place but bolstered their tally to 21 points while Sharks stayed fifth but bettered their points to 23.
Nairobi Simba Union surprisingly went down 3-4 to a revamped Kenya College of Accountancy-University. However, Nairobi stayed fourth with 23 points, behind Wazalendo with 27 points. Strathmore are second on 29.
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