Bandari,Homeboys promoted to the Premier League

By Fred Maingi

Bandari FC and Kakamega HomeBoyz have been promoted to the Kenya  Premier League.The two glamour teams earned the rare feat after winning their weekend assignments that ensured both teams took commanding leads in their respective zones of the Football Kenya Federation(FKF) Division One leagues.
  Consequently,FKF  secretary General  George Ogolla has congratulated both teams  for their promotion.He said the Federation will support  them but urged them to work hard as the premier League is  not a bad of roses.
  The two clubs will now replace relegated Rangers  FC  and Oserian of Naivasha town.Rangers  drew 0-0-  with Nairobi City Stars over the weekend while Oserian lost with a solitary goal to Sony Sugar in Awendo town to seal their fate.
Bandari on Sunday beat Green Berets 2-1 at the Mbaraki grounds in Mombasa while HomeBoyz hit West Sugar 2-0 at Bukhungu to be guaranteed promotion.
With the weekend wins, Bandari moved to 76 points eight points ahead of second placed Mahakama FC who are on 68 points and have played a match more than Bandari.
Kakamega Homeboyz on the other hand have 87 points in the Zone B league with Nzoia United placed second with 79 points both teams having played 36 matches.
Bandari makes a comeback to the top league after one season in the lower league and Mombasa will once again get a chance to watch premier league action while Kakamega Homeboyz makes two the number of teams from Kakamega joining Western Stima. Both teams use Bukhungu stadium as their home grounds.

Meanwhile Rangers deputy coach Ben Bella Omukuba  has described their relegation  to the lower Division as a devastating blow  not  only to the team but to their ardent followers.

  He said the team needed a win to revive their hopes of surviving the League  but their weekend barren draw against Nairobi City Star4s has condemned them to  oblivion.

    He expressed feat that the team might disintegrate with a mass exodus of players tipped to join  other teams but insisted  they will move on.

  Omukuba however lauded his players  for showing brilliant football in the match adding that his team enjoyed almost 70 percent of ball possession.

 “ I hope the boy’s will lift themselves up.We needed a win so dearly to revive our hopes but things  have turned against us. We created many chances including one that hit the crossbar and several fruitless corners.We are bowing out with our heads  high and it’s my prayer that we shall maintain the same squad next season” said he.

   The youthful coach who handles the Media soccer team attributed his teams decline owing to lack of  a  sponsor. ‘That lack of financial muscle hit us below our belts since to sustain a player who has family obligations is not easy.We were competing against heavily sponsored teams and to cope up  with the demanding pressure, it was not easy.We lost also competent  and experienced players  like Pascal Ochieng ,Joseph Nyaga,  Kevin Ochieng  and many others and this also affected our game” he averred .

The highlight of their brief but dramatic stay  in the KPL was their 3-0 opening day thrashing of Gor Mahia that led to the abandonment of that game but with little consequence to Gor.
They will  be joined in the Nationwide league next season by bottom of the table Oserian