)
Shabana thought they clawed back from an early setback to put Ulinzi Stars 2-1 thanks to two towering bullet headers from Matthew Tegisi, but Glen Wafula would restore parity in the last minute to salvage a draw.
Glen Wafula headed a last gasp header for Ulinzi Stars to leave Shabana fans dissapointed as both sides had to settle for a 2-2 draw in an FKF Premier League encounter that took place at the Ulinzi Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.
It did not take long for the hosts to take the lead. Yakeen Mutheli nonchalantly managed to get past his marker on the right before taking taking a momentary pause on the ball, waiting for Staphod Odhiambo to make a darting run into the box before cutting it back to the midfielder who rifled the ball into the back of the net.
This did not deter Shabana, who tried instantly to find a leveler, and nearly found it in the 11th minute when Ateriza Meja whipped in a nicely executed corner kick which found George ‘Dizzo’ Onyango, but he headed the ball just over the bar.
Shabana would create another chance from a set piece situation, which tends to be one of their biggest go-to tactics to score goals, but this time, Meja would be the one to attempt a shot at goal himself, but the ball went just wide off target in the 15th minute.
They would knock on the door again some two minutes later when Brian Michira found Okoth Dennis with a perfectly weighted pass, before the fleet-footed attacker found Matthew Tegisi, but his resultant attempt was just about saved by Ricks Omondi.
After soaking up the pressure for a while, Ulinzi got a brilliant chance to hit on the break, with Yakeen finding Ibrahim Shambi with a brilliant cutback, but his attempt could not beat Shabana custodian Fredrick Otinda.
They would create another chance again in the 37th minute, Yakeen, who had been giving the visitors all sorts of problems with his pace down the flank, found himself in space again from the byline to deliver a low cross back across Shabana’s 18 yard box and found Issah Mulumba, but the defensive midfielder took too many touches allowing a Shabana defender to intercept the ball just in time.
Eventually, Shabana’s willingness to pile the pressure through setpieces paid off. Tegisi won a foul outside the box after forcing Shambi into receiving a booking. From the resultant set play, the Shabana number 9 would soon send their fans into delirium with a well headed goal into the back of the net to give them a vital equaliser heading into the break.
In the second half, the game became end-to-end, with both sides having an equal share of dominance. In the 55th minute, Boniface Muchiri nearly made Shabana hearts stop when he found himself in acres of space just outside the box, before curling a shot at goal that went just over the bar.
However, Shabana started piling on the pressure. After a couple of attempts in which they forced corners, Tegisi would net his second goal of match and season in similar version. A bullet header that left Ulinzi Custodian Ricks Omondi rooted to the ground to put them 2-1 in the 64th minute.
The game then became a damp squib, as Shabana looked to consolidate their lead by putting men behind the ball, but it got Ulinzi trying to find some answers in efforts to equalise, and they nearly did, with Fredrick Otinda being forced to make a good save from a Mark Bikokwa attempt after Leshan Mootian had found him with a good pass from the right.
However, just when they thought they had won, Glen Wafula's header in stoppage time would restore parity for Ulinzi, leaving Shabana faithful dissapointed, and in the end, both sides had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)