Leopards finally ended a run of five league matches without beating their sworn rivals after forward Julius Masaba scored in the first half to secure a memorable victory during a pulsating 98th Mashemeji derby attended by over 18,000 fans.
Going into the derby pitting Kenya’s most successful clubs in the league’s history, AFC Leopards were yet to beat Gor Mahia in the previous four meetings. The last time Ingwe had managed to beat K’Ogalo was during the first meeting of the 2023 campaign, when they secured a 2-1 win.
However, Masaba, who joined AFC Leopards from Kariobangi Sharks, scored what turned out to be the winner after slotting home from the far post a cross from Randi Bakari.
AFC determined to succeed
"We are going for the title, I don’t want to lie," a smiling Ambani told Flashscore after the game.
"The way my players played today (Sunday), it shows you they want to win the title at the end of the season.
"The hunger they showed, the fighting spirit, the aura to defend and attack together against a former champion, is a strong signal of what this young crop of players wants to achieve with AFC Leopards."
Ambani added: "If you want to win the title, you must beat every team that is ahead of you. Gor Mahia is the first culprit, and now our focus is on the other teams ahead of us. We want to pocket all of them, to achieve our title aspirations."
On his game plan, Ambani said: "I looked at this fixture, and how we have been playing, and noticed we can only make it with experienced players, that is why I trusted players like Masaba, James (Kinyanjui), and Kyce (Odhiambo) to do the job, we only needed experience to prevail.
"I also looked at the past record. I haven’t lost to Gor Mahia as a player or as a coach, so I looked around for players who could help me beat them. I told my players, 'I have never lost to Gor Mahia but have drawn all matches, so all we need now is a win'."
The victory helped AFC Leopards to move sixth on the 18-team Premier League table with 17 points from 10 matches, three less than table leaders and champions Kenya Police FC.
Akonnor concedes derby defeat
Meanwhile, Gor Mahia coach Charles Akonnor, who was overseeing his first Kenyan derby, conceded defeat, saying AFC Leopards were the better side and deserved to carry the day.
"The opponents were more aggressive than us; they won the majority of the second balls, they were determined, and you could see an urgency from the way they played," said Akonnor.
"I had warned my players earlier that we needed such a performance to prevail because games like that come with a lot of commitment, but we were not committed enough to play; we didn’t fight enough to win this game."
The Ghanaian legend continued: "From the onset, you could see that AFC Leopards were more aggressive than us, by winning the balls, they were determined, and they bullied us sometimes. In the game, I don’t know if officiating could have been better, but they bullied us.
"So it was upon us to react with a positive response, but we didn’t. I’m very disappointed with the way we played. AFC Leopards were better, they were aggressive, they had a plan, and they got a chance and scored the only goal… Well, congratulations to them."
Ingwe’s last league success came in 1998, while their last trophy triumph - the domestic Cup - was realised in 2017 after securing a 2-0 victory against Kariobangi Sharks in the final.
During the triumphant season in 1998, Ingwe finished top of the table, three points ahead of second-placed Mumias Sugar to win their 12th title in history. In the following campaign, Ingwe failed to defend the title, finishing second, and it is from then until now that they are still searching for the elusive crown.
The last trophy for Ingwe was the FKF Cup, then the GOtv Shield, which arrived on October 20th, 2017, following a 2-0 victory against Sharks. Under coach Robert Matano, Ingwe scored through defender Abdalla Salim and forward Vincent Oburu to win the final and clinch the domestic Cup.
