Profligate Mathare United share spoils with Police FC

Heading into the match, Police were on a good run of form, having won four of their previous five matches and sat fourth on the league table with 43 points

Kenya Police FC missed the chance to go level on points with third-placed Kakamega Homeboyz after being held to a goalless draw by Mathare United in an FKF Premier League match played on Tuesday, 14 April at the Kasarani Stadium.

Heading into the match, Police were on a good run of form, having won four of their previous five matches and sat fourth on the league table with 43 points, 14 shy of league leaders Gor Mahia.

Mathare United, on the other hand, were on a poor run of form and had only secured one win in their six previous encounters.

The match began at a slow pace, with both teams attacking cautiously, lest they get caught out on the counterattack and concede an early goal.

The Slum Boys had their first attempt in the 12th minute when Brian Ouru from the middle of the park spotted Police FC goalkeeper Daniel Ogembo out of his area and attempted an audacious long-range shot that narrowly missed the target.

Police had calls for a penalty after an alleged handball by a Mathare United player in a goalmouth melee in the 20th minute, which the referee waved away.

The Law Enforcers survived a scare in the 34th minute when Geoffrey Onyango played a short back pass to Ogendo that forced the custodian to make a professional foul to prevent his team from going down.

In the end, it was a first-half battle that yielded no fruit as the half-time whistle blew with no team able to find the back of the net.

In the second half, Mathare had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 54th minute, when Isaac Omweri latched onto the ball from a poor Police clearance and set up John Makwatta, but Ogembo was alert to pull a spectator save and deny the hosts from taking the lead.

With little goalmouth action from both sides in the second half, Ouru had perhaps the best chance of the game in the 69th minute when, on a quick counter-attack, he got to the end of the ball inside the box but saw his strike hit the crossbar with Ogembo well beaten.

Mathare would once again hit the post in the 75th minute; this time, John Nyawir saw his effort cannon off the woodwork after being set up by Musa Masika.

Both teams pushed for a goal, but none was forthcoming as they settled for a barren draw at the final whistle. Police remain fourth on 44 points while Mathare moved up to 12th with 31 points.