The relegation battle intensified at the weekend, and all indication is that the race will go down to the wire. Muhoroni Youth have already faced the axe while Mathare United and Thika Unitedare doggedly stayed alive after precious wins, so too did Western Stima while AFC Leopards mathematically confirmed their safety. This is what the tacticians had to say.

Bandari coach Paul Nkata: “Lavatsa missed a chance in the first half and another in the last 45 minutes but two of his good shots were on target (drew 0-0 with Posta Rangers). He is a good player and he drew a lot of motivation from our previous game against Muhoroni. If he had been just a little more clinical, we would have walked away with three points.”

Posta Rangers coach Sammy “Pamzo” Omollo:“Bandari defended well in both halves (drew 0-0 with Bandari). We got one golden opportunity in the second half through John Naipuga but he delayed in releasing the ball and was subsequently dispossessed. That is a chance we should have used to get an edge over our opponents.

Zoo Kericho coach Sammy Okoth: “We wanted to contain Gor in the first half, which we superbly did (drew 1-1 with Gor Mahia). In the second half my game plan of going all out in attack paid off because we managed to score the equaliser.

Gor Mahia coach Dylan Kerr: “My players did their best but when lady luck misbehaves there is nothing one can do (drew 1-1 with Zoo Kericho).

AFC Leopards coach Robert Matano: “From the beginning of the match to the very end the boys displayed some good hunger for victory and created so many chances (beat Nakumatt 1-0). Focus now shifts to the two remaining matches. I want to win both of them so that we can finish in a good position in the league and also for respectability. AFC Leopards is a big club that should be challenging for the league title or winning it outright.”

Nzoia sugar coach Bernard Mwalala: “It appears that my players became over confident after they beat AFC Leopards on Wednesday, and they took this match quite casually (lost 1-0 to Mathare United). We were particularly sluggish in the first half and I just had a feeling we would lose based on that first 45 minutes. But we did have our chances and looking at the match in overall, we did not deserve to lose.”

Tusker assistant coach Francis Baraza: “When you are playing against a team like Thika it becomes even more difficult because they are fighting a bigger battle (lost 1-0 to Thika United). Thika were fighting for their lives in this game. They knew that they would go down if they didn’t win today and that was the driving force they came into the match with. They deserve the three points. I am confident of winning the remaining matches and staying in the league.”

Mathare United coach Francis Kimanze: “If at the end of the season I am not relegated I will consider this one of be best season (beat Nzoia Sugar 1-0).”