Gor Mahia striker Benson Omalla has credited the club’s fans for helping him stay motivated during his seven-game goal drought.
Omalla scored his first goal in over two months when he struck home in the fourth minute as K’Ogalo beat Nairobi City Stars 1-0 in an FKF Premier League match on Saturday.
It had been a nightmare run that had seen the striker fail to find the target since December 9, 2023 and while many were frustrated by his lack of goals, Omalla says he stayed grounded knowing they would come and was also helped by the patience and support shown to him by Gor Mahia supporters.
“I thank my team-mates and the fans who have been pushing me,” said Omalla. “I have had a goal drought but they have been motivating me. They have kept telling me it was [the goals] coming and eventually it has come.”
Omalla said he did not lose focus even when the goals dried up and kept working on his finishing with the hope that it would eventually pay off.
“As a striker, you have to keep working on your finishing during training. If it does not come on matchday, you try another game but I have been keeping my head low knowing it will come and it has come so I want to maintain it.”
Omalla’s goal saw him increase his tally to 10 for the campaign but the young striker would have been out of sight had he maintained his early season form as the goal drought has allowed others to close in.
Kenya Police striker Tito Okello and his Bandari FC counterpart Francis Kahiro are both tied on eight goals while Vincent Owino of Nairobi City Stars has seven in the chase for this season’s Golden Boot.
Omalla will therefore hope to build onto his goal to maintain his place at the top and win the award which eluded him last season after a five-game goal drought in the final weeks of campaign allowed Elvis Rupia, then of Kenya Police, to claim the top scorer’s gong.
K’Ogalo have an eight-point lead over second-placed Posta Rangers, having accumulated 47 points, and have a tricky run of fixtures coming up, starting with the mailmen, before Bandari and Kakamega Homeboyz come calling.