Gor Mahia’s success story in Cecafa tournament

Gor Mahia’s match against Tanzania’s Azam will today be their 65th match in Cecafa Club Challenge Cup History (now branded as CECAFA Kagame Interclub Cup).

Gor Mahia’s first match in this competition goes all the way back to January 7th 1975 when they faced Tanzania’s Simba – drawing 1-1.

Laban Otieno became the club’s first scorer in this tournament. Since then, they have gone on to lift the cup three times (1980, 1981 and 1985), with two of those victories coming against traditional rivals AFC Leopards.

The period from 1980 to 1985 was arguably the club’s best in the competition as they made four finals appearances and a semi-final appearance. Old timers will point out to the 3-2 against AFC Leopards (then Abaluhya FC) in 1980 finals in Blantyre, Malawi and the 2-0 win against the same opponent in 1985 in Khartoum, Sudan as some of the most memorable matches for the club, both games now embedded into the club’s folklore.

The lowest period for the club in the competition came in the 90s when they particularly struggled against teams from Tanzania and Uganda. They exited the tournament in 1991 and 1994 without winning a single match and only scoring 1 goal, Mike Otieno scoring in a 1-1 draw against El Merreikh in January 1994.

After an 18 year hiatus, Gor made a return to the tournament in 2014, and though they were unable to win any of their 4 games, the Michael Olunga inspired team produced a terrific run to the finals the following year before losing out to Tanzania’s Azam, their semi-finals opponent this year.

Olunga’s five goals in 2015 elevated him to the clubs’s third highest scorer in the tournament, behind the legendary Hesbon Omollo and Nahashon Oluoch ‘Lule’.

Once again, the K’Ogalo nation knows their team is back where they belong.

The following are some facts about K’Ogalo’s regional journey in this tournament.

Number of titles: 3

First Opponent: Simba SC (Tanzania), 1975
First goal scorer: Laban Otieno vs Simba SC, 1975

First title:
1980 vs Abaluhya FC (now AFC Leopards)

Number of wins: 26
Number of loses: 19
Number of draws: 19
Goals scored: 84
Goals conceded: 66
Top Scorers: Hesbon Omollo (7), Nahashon Oluoch ‘Lule’ (6), Michael Olunga (5)

Most goals in a single tournament: Michael Olunga, 5; Hesborn Omollo (4), Nahashon Oluoch Lule (3), William Obwaka (3), Jacques Tuyisenge (3)- Tuyisenge still has an opportunity to increase his goal tally.

Biggest win: 3-0 vs (Jeshi (Zanzibar) 1980; El Hilal Obeid (Sudan) 1984; Printing Agency (Somalia) 1984; Limbe Leaf (Malawi) 1985; and Wagad (Somalia) 1986

Biggest loss: 0-4 vs Yanga (Tanzania) 1996

Clubs faced most often: Simba (7), AFC Leopards (6), Yanga (5), KCC/KCCA (4)