AFC Leopards Got Nothing To Celebrate as the Club Marks a Major Milestone

Twelve-time Kenyan champions AFC Leopards turned 55 years old yesterday but had nothing to celebrate as they find themselves fighting relegation instead of challenging for the title.

However, Ingwe can give their long-suffering fans a belated birthday present by extending their revival under Rwandan tactician Casa Mbungo when they host on-form Sofapaka FC in a SportPesa Premier League encounter at Bukhungu Stadium this afternoon.

Kenya’s oldest club ended their poor run of six loses at Bukhungu courtesy of a lone goal against Sony Sugar on March 2 and followed it up with a 2-1 triumph over Tusker FC and now Ingwe hope to make it three wins on the bounce.

Leopards received a timely boost when they acquired the services of Kenyan international defender David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng on Monday, albeit on a short-term deal. How they cope against Sofapaka will be of particular interest as Batoto Ba Mungu are the highest scorers in the league with 28 goals so far.

While the team has always had quality players within its ranks, success has been hard to come by but the respected Rwandan, hired five weeks ago, is confident of raising confidence levels at the den and making them competitive again.

“Quality of these players has never been in doubt and it showed when they were reduced to 10 men. They still played and got a result. It is a process and I’m happy with the positivity displayed by these players. Another win over a team of Sofapaka’s quality will greatly boost their confidence,” Mbugo said.

Sofapaka snatched a last-minute draw against Ingwe in the first leg in December under the troubled stewardship of Melis Medo. The club has since stabilised after Medo’s exit and now sit third on the log on 30 points, two behind leaders Bandari.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *