Gor Mahia jump to second place after edging stubborn Rangers

By Fred Maingi

Rangers FC woes spiraled from bad to worse on Wednesday  night after they lost their 12^th match to Gor Mahia who hit them 2-1 in a hotly contested League match staged at the Nyayo National Stadium.The match was graced by among others Prime Minister Hon.Raila Odinga.

 Despite the win, Rangers put up a  brave fight especially in the second half where they reduced Gor to near amateurs. Former Gor Mahia duo of Baldwin Ngwa and overlapping defender Julius ‘Awilo”Owino gave Gor K’ogalo hectic moments forcing Goalkeeper Jerim Onyango to pull off several acrobatic saves.

  Gor took the lead on 33^rd minute through diminutive Victor Abondo who slammed home Moses Odhiambo’s short corner past Rangers custodian Victor Omondi.

  Leading 1-0,Gor resumed the second half hoping to take over from where they left but found the going tough.Julius Owino leveled the score  for Rangers in the 47^th minute with a delicate lob that beat Gor Keeper Jerim Onyango.

 After soaking  a lot of pressure  and hectic moments,Gor settled down briefly after making several changes.A counter attack on 54^th minute saw Gor lift up their head up with the match winner after Rama Salim  drew out Rangers Keeper(Victor Omondi) with a clever volley after receiving a nice pass from Dan Sserunkuma.

  Like a  cobra ready to swing to action,Rangers however continued to press for the equalizer  with Julius Owino and Eric Muranda going close to scoring in the 76^th and 87^th with Gor fans holding their breath.

 Following the victory,Gor have now climbed from third to second spot in the 16 team’s League  with 49 points.Defending champions Tusker FC continues  to call the shots at the top  with 51 points  while AFC Leopards  are placed third with 48 points.

  Rangers are languishing  at the bottom of the standings with 20 points from 26 matches.They have won three,drew 11 and have so far lost 12 matches.