MACHAKOS, Kenya, Jun 6- Star striker Esse Akida stepped off the bench to score the winner six minutes from time as Harambee Starlets edged closer to their second consecutive African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) with a 2-1 win over Equatorial Guinea in the final qualification match.
Starlets will now need any kind of draw in the return leg to be played in Malabo this weekend to earn a ticket of playing in African women’s football premier tournament in Ghana in September.
Starlets had come from a goal down with Jade Boho Sayo scoring in the 38th minute, but a brilliant strike from Teresa Engesha took Kenya level.
Starlets left the best for the final minutes of the game with two substitutes combining, Akida side footing a low cross from Cynthia Shilwatso.
David Ouma’s girls looked organized from the first minute, playing a structured game but failed to get much in attack.
Inside the opening minute, they had the first chance when Mwanahalima Adam’s cross from the right fell on Neddy Atieno, but the army girl’s first control let her off with the ball going too close to the keeper.
Skipper Wendy Achieng had another effort off a freekick in the 12th minute but the effort from range went wide with the keeper beaten.
The visitors hadn’t settled in the opening minutes of the match, but they kept posing danger time and again, Jade Boho Sayo being the threat with her trickery on the ball from the flanks.
In the 21st minute, she dribbled her way into the edge of the box, but her shot went straight into keeper Poline Atieno’s arms.
Four minutes later, Equatorial Guinea came very close when Dorine Nina’s freekick from deep found an onrushing Gloria Chinasa, but her diving header went wide with the Kenyan backline caught off their guard.
But a relaxed Kenyan side didn’t seem disoriented by the few threats and they kept building play, though at times the transition from defense to attack wasn’t fast enough.
On the half hour mark, Atieno had another chance to break the deadlock when he rushed to Engesha’s freekick which had deflected on the wall, but her connection from close range came against the side netting.
Of the few occasions The West Africans had a chance at goal, they managed to finally break the deadlock in the 38th minute when Sayo headed in at the edge of the six yard box off a Genoveva Anonman corner from the right.
-Engesha goal
However, the home girls made an immediate response and in emphatic fashion, Engesha striking a long range shot from almost 35 yards out after sighting keeper Lucrecia Boabaila off her line.
In the second half, Starlets should have been 2-1 up after just four minutes but Dorcas Shikobe’s shot after being teed up by Cheris Avillia went wide.
Ouma made his first change pulling off Sheryl Angachi for Esse Akida in a bid to add some spice into attack. The home girls had another golden chance in the 58th minute when Akida laid up Adam with a cross from the left but the striker’s effort on the volley went just wide.
On the other end, Kenyan keeper Atieno made a brilliant save to tip over a header from Gloria Chinasa who had gone high unmarked from another of Anonman’s deliveries.
Ouma decided to go all out attack, pulling out Neddy Atieno and goal scorer Engesha for Mercy Achieng and Cynthia Shilwatso.
The team increased the intensity upfront with the fresh feet in attack, piling pressure on the visitors. Adam almost scored the second in the 73rd minute when she attempted to catch the keeper off her line with a shot from range, but the custodian managed to backtrack and turn the ball behind for a corner.
The pressure finally bore fruit with six minutes to play when Akida turned up at the edge of the six yard box to turn home a cross from Shilwatso which found the Equatorial Guinea backline off their feet.
The girls managed to seal their rear and ensured they kept the slim win.
