Nairobi — AFC Leopards coach Patrick Aussems was delighted to see his charges emerge unscathed after having to contend with the long ball-playing tactics of Murang'a Seals in their Mozzartbet Cup encounter at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday.
Ingwe had to play for over half an hour with 10 men after the dismissal of Kaycie Odhiambo in the 54th minute.
Aussems admitted his players defended too much for his own liking considering the unorthodox tactics of their National Super League (NSL) opponents.
"In the second half, we were only defending but we defended well against a team that was only playing long balls. It means you have to be focused 200 per cent because with these long balls you never know what can happen," the Dutchman said.
He added: "It was not a good game but then again the most important thing is qualification. They are a team that are fighting for promotion to the Premier League. We played against them in the pre-season and I thought they were much better then than today. They looked like a team that were trying to play some good football."
Substitute Jaffary Owiti made an immediate impact off the bench, running onto a Cliff Nyakeya through-pass to round the keeper and slot into an empty net.
His goal came three minutes after Ingwe were forced into an early change in the eighth minute after striker Ojo Olaniyi went down with an injury.
Having navigated their path into the last eight, Aussems has now turned his focus to their midweek league encounter against Tusker FC.
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"I told my players before the match to be careful but our opponents did not play football as we expected. Now we only just need to focus on the recovery process and prepare for our next game on Wednesday against Tusker," he said.
His opposite in the dugout, Vincent Nyaberi, was full of praise for his players despite the loss, noting that their inexperience in playing at the top level had worked against them.
"They have played really well...I would give them a score of 80 per cent. AFC were a man down and we tried to utilize that advantage but it did not materialize. We created chances but could not convert them...luck was not on our side today," he said.
The NSL side lie third on the log with 26 points - 12 behind leaders Shabana FC - and are on course to gain promotion to the FKF Premier League.
Nyaberi said his side remain relentless in their push for a place among the crème-de-la-crème of Kenyan football and will work on the mistakes noted during the loss to Leopards.
"What cost us today was our inexperience so I will go back to the drawing board so we can explore how to brush out the mistakes we have made today. Afterwards, we continue our push for the Premier League," the former Shabana coach said.
They next play Darajani Gogo on Sunday at Camp Toyoyo in Nairobi.
