NAKURU, Kenya, Jun 4- Kariobangi Sharks will live to rue missed chances as they were made to pay, losing to newly crowned Tanzanian Premier League champions Simba SC 3-2 on post match penalties in the third quarter final of the SportPesa Super Cup at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium.
Skipper Eric Juma and his deputy Geoffrey Shiveka took horrendous efforts both saved by keeper Aishi Manula while Jonas Mkude scored the decider for the Wekundu wa Msimbazi who now book a date against Kakamega Homeboyz in the semi-final on Thursday.
The game was forced into penalties after a barren draw in regulation time in a match that didn’t provide much of attacking spectacle from either side.
On spot kicks, despite carrying with him a knee injury picked up late on in the match, keeper Manula saved two spot kicks as the Tanzanians kept on course their former coach Dylan Kerr’s dream final against his current employers Gor Mahia.
Pascal Ogweno saw his spot kick rise over the bar before defender Geoffrey Shiveka saw his poorly taken kick saved by Manula. Haruna Niyonzima scored the first for Simba with skipper Husssein ‘Tshabalala’ Mohammed skying his.
Eric Kipkurui scored Sharks’ third before Erasto Nyoni kept Simba in the lead. Harrison Mwenda stepped up and scored and Sharks thought they had gotten back to the game when Paul Bukaba’s shot came off the underside of the bar.
However, skipper Juma made a mess of his kick giving Manula an easy save and Mkude made the most of it, scoring the decider.
Eric Kapaito’s two glaring misses were the highlights of the opening half, one which Sharks had minimal possession with the Tanzanian champions keeping a huge chunk of it.
On the quarter hour mark, Kapaito was sent through by Harrison Mwendwa and with one turn beat his marker. However, he was slow to pull the trigger with only keeper Aishi Manula to beat allowing Jonas Mkude to race back, apply some bit of pressure on him and his eventual shot was weak.
20 minutes later, he had an equally glorious opportunity to score, but once again his finishing was non-existent.
Sven Yidah won the ball in midfield, toe poked to Duke Abuya on the right who raced into it and slit in a low cross with pace but Kapaito who was running into the six yard box unmarked failed to give the ball the slightest of touches to direct it into the net.
Apart from those two chances, Sharks had not threatened much with Simba keeping the ball, passing it across the park with ease but did not create danger upfront.
On the half hour mark, Ibrahim Mohammed who had enjoyed a good game in the middle of the park had a shot from distance which went straight to John Oyemba in the Sharks goal.
Sharks also had two other chances, first in the third minute Yidah missing a great opportunity with a header off an Abuya corner. In the 21st minute, Francis Manoah also had a chance off an Abuya cross, but he directed it wide.
Simba made an early change six minutes to the break Juma Rashid coming on for Ally Shomari.
There wasn’t much of goal scoring chances in the second half with the closest being a tap from Abuya off a Sidney Lokale cross in the 75th minute.
Lokale had been brought on for the wasteful Kapaito but he too could not make an impact and was hauled off for Erick Juma late on.
