In the fixture that the law enforcers needed to win to keep their top spot in the 18-team league table, it was the visitors, who returned home with maximum points after the enterprising Boniface Muchiri found the back of the net in the 47th minute.
Police started the game at a slow pace and found it difficult to break down a resilient Ulinzi backline. In the 22nd minute, Marvin Nabwire was booked for a late challenge, and four minutes later, Police suffered a blow when influential midfielder Kenneth Muguna was withdrawn for Tyson Otieno after sustaining what looked like a hamstring injury.
Muguna’s exit enabled Ulinzi to seize control of the midfield and they raided Police for the opener but the first half ended 0-0. However, a minute after the break, Muchiri scored what turned out to be the winner, after finishing off a brilliant pass from Yakeen Muteheli.
Though Ndayiragije made three changes bringing in David Irishura, David Simiyu and Alvin Mang’eni for Clinton Kinanga, Francis Kahata and Tyson Otieno, Ulinzi held on to register their seventh win of the current campaign.
Meanwhile, Police suffered their fourth defeat, but the outcome denied them an opportunity to stay at the summit with second-placed Tusker, with 48 points, facing struggling Nairobi City Stars on Sunday, April 19th.
Police will not drop title aspirations despite defeat
“First of all, I want to congratulate Ulinzi Stars, they played well, they had very good discipline, they were good defensively, they were good on the offensive side, they got one chance, and scored one goal, they used the chance effectively, and I think their coach did his job well,” Ndayiragije told Flashscore after the game.
“For our side, it was tough luck, we had our chances but we couldn’t use them, and that is football, we are in the race, the fight still continues, and we will continue to fight.”
Asked whether the defeat puts him under pressure with Tusker and champions Gor Mahia breathing behind his side’s back, Ndayiragije said: “I don’t have any pressure, when I took over the team, they were fighting against relegation, but now they are at the top of the table, so how did we reach there (at the top)?
‘It means we know what we are doing, we know what we want to achieve, so we need to stay focused, we need to continue doing our best, and I have confidence that we will reach our target at the end of the season.”
Before the defeat against Ulinzi Stars, Police had gone for seven matches in all competitions without suffering defeat. The team’s last defeat came on February 20th when they lost 1-0 against Mathare United in a top-flight clash.
They secured a 0-0 draw against AFC Leopards in their next fixture, beat MOFA 1-0 in the Round of 32 of the domestic FKF Cup, beat Murang’a Seal 3-1, earned revenge against Posta Rangers after registering a 1-0 win, drew 0-0 against City Stars, beat Kapenguria United 2-0 in the Round of 16 of the Cup before the defeat against Ulinzi.
“We don't want to drop our guard and say we have given up (on the title race), it is unfortunate that we dropped points against Ulinzi Stars, our intention was to win the game but they were better than us, we will keep the fight on, we will not relent,” offered Ndayiragije.
“We have lost and it means the other teams chasing for the same target will also drop points at some stage, so why should we give up? It is not the time to give up now, it is the time to dust ourselves up and focus on the remaining matches.
“We want to win every match we play and see what will happen at the end of the season, I repeat we lost against Ulinzi because they were much better than us, not because of anything and that is football, we accept the defeat but it should act as a wake-up call for us, we must win the next game.”
Ndayiragije further admitted that his side was not effective enough when Muguna was withdrawn after picking an injury.
“Muguna’s substitution was not tactical, he came out because of a hamstring injury, it really slowed down our game, we also missed Mohammed Bajaber, we were not good enough in that area, but I hope they will all be fit to return before our next game,” explained Ndayiragije.
Ulinzi Stars coach Dunstan Nyaudo told Flashscore after the game: “I thank my players for the spirited fight, they gave everything and I am happy with what I saw from them.
“We have done a lot of work to our finishing department in recent weeks, it is the biggest emphasis in our team so far, because that is where we have been having problems.
“Even against Police, we created more than four chances, but we only managed to use one, we had a penalty which was not given and that is also a chance, but we are working on our striking force because it has been our main undoing.”
Following the win, Ulinzi Stars remained 12th with 31 points from 27 matches. They have managed seven wins, 10 draws and suffered 10 defeats.
AFC Leopards struggling because of injuries
Meanwhile, AFC Leopards coach Fred Ambani attributed their latest defeat to missing key players to injuries. Ingwe’s poor season continued after they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Posta Rangers.
The defeat was the seventh for the struggling Ingwe, who are destined to end another season without silverware.
“I can’t be happy with this kind of result, I can’t be happy when we lose, we have a lot of injuries that are affecting the team currently, I hope things will improve when the players return from injuries,” Ambani told Flashscore.
“We had good chances, we had a lot of chances and wasted them, our rival had one chance and used it, football is all about using your chances, we got ours and never used them, we will have to go sit down and rectify mistakes from this game before our next fixture.”
AFC Leopards are now seventh with 37 points from 26 matches while the win enabled Rangers to move from the relegation zone as they landed in 14th with 28 points from 27 outings.
