Shabana FC players celebrate a goal against Mombasa Elite at Gusii Stadium on April 22, 2023. PHOTO: RAY JAYDEN
Shabana FC will make a grand return to the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) at the end of the season if they collect maximum points in the remaining matches.
The ‘Glamour Boys’ as they are commonly known were relegated from the top tier in 2006 before they further dropped to division one in 2014. They made their way back to the NSL in 2018.
Most of the 16 years since their relegation from the KPL has been spent in the second tier and that is where they currently find themselves.
With eleven matches left to the end of the 2022/23 season, Shabana will have themselves to blame if they fail to qualify for next season’s Kenyan topflight league.
The ‘Glamour Boys’ sit at the apex of the National Super League (NSL) standings with 45 points after 21 matches, seven ahead of second placed Murang’a Seal who have two matches in hand.
Gusii FC are third on 34 points while Migori Youth who have one match at hand are ranked fourth on 32 points.
The 6-0 away victory against Vihiga United at Mumias Sports Complex on Monday as well as a 3-1 midweek win over visiting Mombasa Elite at Gusii Stadium kept promotion hopes alive for the Kisii County based side.
Shabana have so far registered 14 wins, three draws and four losses. Their last defeat was on April 14 when they lost 3-1 away to SS Assad.
Speaking on Friday , the club’s head coach Sammy Okoth said the team is not inclined towards talking about the second tier title despite a good run.
“For me, we just want to take one match at a time. We are not talking about the title because our close competitors are also winning. We want to take each game and treat it like a final and then look at the next” said the experienced tactician.
He attributed the good run to a good partnership between the technical bench and the playing unit.
“There is a strong belief amongst the players that they will play top tier matches next season and I have encouraged them to keep working hard until the last fixture” added Okoth.
On his side, the club’s captain Peter Ogechi remained optimistic that they will achieve their promotion target.
I believe we can achieve promotion because we are training well and with the callibre of players we have, all is possible. We have a lot of work to do and with discipline and hard training, I believe we can”, said the captain.
Murang’a Seal head coach Vincent Nyaberi warned that they are the ones who will lift the title and secure an automatic promotion slot.
“I have talked with my players and we have agreed that they will give a 100 percent effort in our last match as they have been doing before. I want to promise you that we will play top tier matches next season” he said
In their remaining matches, Shabana will play seven matches at home and four away.
Shabana’s next assignment will be against sixth placed Mara Sugar at Gusii Stadium on Sunday while Murang’a Seal will host Kajiado FC at St Sebastian Park.
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