The veteran tactician warns his charges that the league is a marathon and they must stay focused to achieve their goals
Tusker coach Robert Matano has called on his player to stay focused and forget getting excited as they chase the FKF Premier League title this campaign.
The Brewers stretched their lead at the top of the 18-team table to seven points after they rallied from behind to beat Nzoia Sugar 2-1 in a match at Kasarani Stadium on Tuesday.
Late goals from substitute Jackson Macharia and Henry Meja’s ninth of the season completed the turnaround against the Sugar Millers, who had taken a shock lead through Hillary Simiyu, two minutes to the half-time break.
And despite enjoying the seven-point lead, the veteran tactician, who has won league titles with Sofapaka and Ulinzi Stars, has now called on his players to forget about the win against Nzoia and focus on their next match against Bidco United on Saturday.
“This victory is now gone and we forget about it,” Matano told the club’s official website. “There is no need to be excited, we cannot talk about it now.
“Our focus is on the game against Bidco United on Saturday and we need to continue being consistent, it is still very early in the league and still tough, but we have to keep working hard and deliver results.”
On the game against Nzoia, Matano said: “It was a very tough game for us. We know that Nzoia is a strong team with very good running players and they have a lot of energy. We also knew that after beating KCB, they would come strongly and were ready for us,”
“The first half was tough because they play very well in their half, but in the second half, we knew they would be tired and we made tactical substitutions that suited our game plan in the final minutes and I am happy we got a win.”
Tusker were heading to a defeat until Matano made a triple substitution, with Humphrey Mieno, Macharia, and George Odhiambo coming in for Brian Marita, Okoth, and Onyango.
With 20 minutes remaining, he threw his last dice, with Faraj Ominde and Zakayo coming on for Hashim Sempala and Namanda and the changes brought the much needed fresh legs in attack, and just four minutes later, Macharia equalised with a shot from inside the box after Faraj teed him up from Erick Zakayo’s cross.