Gor Mahia host Tusker FC in their league catch up match today at Machakos from 4pm.
Both teams will be gunning for wins in an effort to keep pace with current leaders Bandari. Tusker currently lie one point and one place behind Gor Mahia and a win for either side will provide a psychological boost for them in their quest to win the title.
Traditionally, this has been the biggest fixture in the Kenya league outside the Mashemeji derby. The two clubs have a combined 28 league titles between them and have won the last eight league titles.
Gor Mahia are coming into this match in better league form having won four of their last five matches with a draw against Western Stima while Tusker lost their last match to Kakamega Homeboyz. However, last season, Gor manage a draw against the brewers in the first leg and lost the return leg 0-1.
Histoy
The teams first met in the league in 1970 with Kenya Breweries (as Tusker were then known) winning the match 3-1 courtesy of goals by John Nyawanga and a brace by Livingstone Madegwa while Gor Mahia had their goal from Fred Siranga.
Gor Mahia had to wait until their third meeting to secure a victory when two goals by Zambian Phillip Gaetano helped them beat the brewers 4-2 to begin a sequence of five consecutive league wins.
Gor Mahia’s darkest hour against the brewers was in April 1980 when Peter Odera’s hat-trick helped inflict a 5-1 defeat, one of Gor Mahia’s heaviest league defeats. The only other player to have scored a hat-trick in this fixture was Gor Mahia’s John Chore in 3-2 win in 1973. Gor Mahia would nail their revenge the following year by walloping the brewers 4-1 with Sammy Owino ‘Kempes’ brace adding to goals by Enock Obwaka and Abbey Nassur.
Top Scorers
Both John Chore and Peter Odera remain the top scorers in this fixture with seven goals apiece while Ben Agunda has scored five for the brewers. Simon Nyatome is the only player to have scored for both sides in this fixture, a feat that can only be matched today by Kevin ‘Ade’ Omondi who features for Tusker and scored against them in 2010
Gor Mahia will be hoping a victory will act as motivator for their CAF Confederations fixture against NA Hussein Dey that follows this encounter.
Gor Mahia Tusker Fact file:
League Matches played – 86
Gor Mahia wins – 34
Tusker wins – 26
Draws – 26
Gor Mahia goals – 86
Tusker goals – 83