Gor coach Oktay says Mt Kenya walkover a ‘blessing’

Gor Mahia FC head coach Hassan Oktay suggested the walkover awarded to them at the expense of Mount Kenya United was an ironic twist of fate during a period in which officiating decisions have gone against his side.

Gor will earn three points after Mount Kenya failed to honour the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clash in Machakos over unpaid wages and Oktay says the act gives his fatigued team an extra recovery window.

The KPL champions conceded a goal deep into stoppage time against Kakamega Homeboyz when they drew 1-1 with Oktay claiming Allan Wanga’s goal had been scored in the eighth minute of extra time when only five minutes had been added.

Oktay’s charges were on the wrong end of another controversial officiating decision after a dubious penalty was awarded against them in another 1-1 draw against Ulinzi Stars.

Replays of the incident showed Enosh Ochieng, who earned and converted the penalty, had successfully deceived the referee after diving under minimal contact from defender Geoffrey Ochieng.

“I strongly believe God because God is good. I showed the referee what happened to us against Homeboyz; they had five minutes and we ended up playing seven…eight minutes until they scored.

“What happened in the Ulinzi game everyone could see that was not a penalty and yet a genuine penalty claim by Kahata (Francis) was not given.

“Look at what has happened to us today; maybe it’s a blessing or maybe not. I still don’t know. It’s definitely helping my players because we had injuries,” Oktay said.

Oktay was however empathetic with the Mount Kenya players and offered a heartfelt plea to the KPL Ltd and the club’s management to sort out the pay issue.

“I feel sorry for the players and what I heard is not good for the KPL. We’ve got three points but I’d rather play to earn them than get them for free.

“We were in the same situation three months ago but ours was a smaller issue. I feel sorry for the players because at the end of the day they have families and they have to put bread on the table.

“I feel bad for the players and to be honest club chairmen need to understand this. Hopefully they can get paid.”

Three points will take Gor’s points tally to 52 points, four more than their closest challenger Sofapaka FC who are placed second.