MACHAKOS, Kenya, May 1 – Salim Babu picked his first win as Western Stima head coach as the powermen blacked out Mount Kenya United 3-0 at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos to pile more misery on Melis Medo’s men.
Kennedy ‘Agogo’ Otieno scored in the first half with keeper Samuel Odhiambo converting a penalty 15 minutes from time with substitute Henry Onyango adding the third as Mount Kenya remained rooted at the bottom of the standings with 18 points, three out of safety.
Stima had to play a majority of the second half with 10 men after skipper Vincent Omumbo was sent off in the 53rd minute for a second bookable offense.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Stima remained top of their hosts to pick the three points and scale to 13th in the standings.
The embattled Mount Kenya came into the tie with some heap of confidence having picked up a vital 3-2 away win against fellow strugglers Zoo Kericho and were hoping to pick up consecutive wins for the first time this season against Stima.
But, the powermen were not just about to coil into that momentum and went ahead first after five minutes, Otieno breaking the deadlock with a neat finish.
The forward broke into the Mount Kenya box with some burst of pace from midfield before chipping over the advancing Philip Odhiambo in goal for the home side.
Stima, under the tutelage of Babu who was making a return after a short sabbatical were the better side in the opening half dictating possession and limiting Mount Kenya to trying out attacks on the break.
The home side lost possession cheaply and struggled to complete passes, the body language on the pitch clearly showing a side struggling to stay afloat amidst all the off pitch issues.
Almost immediately after scoring, Stima came close again with Hillary Dachi’s header at point blank off a Kevin Monyi cross from the right being well saved by Odhiambo.
Four minutes to the break, Stima had another chance when Herbart Kopany cited the keeper off his line and went for a cracker from 40 yards, the keeper managing to back-peddle and tip the ball behind for a corner.
In the second half, Stima continued their dominance and they came close in the 56th minute when Kopany sent Dachi through on the right but the winger could not beat the keeper one on one from a tight angle.
Stima put the game to bed 15 minutes from time when keeper Odhiambo converted from the spot after substitute Henry Onyango was brought down inside the box by Bernard Omondi.
Onyango then completed the rout in added time when he blasted the ball into the net on his second bite of the cherry after his initial attempt off a cut back from Joel Abaliwano was blocked by the keeper.
