FKF Shield: Rain Plays Spoilsport to Sharks Versus Bandari Final

Torrential rains forced the abandonment of 2019 FKF Shield final at half time with Bandari leading Kariobangi Sharks 2-1 at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya.

Congolese forward Yema Mwana broke the deadlock on the second minute with a shot from the edge of the box before adding his second in the 26^th minute in a similar fashion.

Kariobangi Sharks, who are the defending champions, pulled one back at the stroke of the half-hour mark with skipper Patilah Omotto nabbing a wonderful volley.

Kariobangi Sharks were off to a sloppy start and were punished for the second mine by the Dockers through Yema Mwana.

A clear run by William Wadri and Abdallah Hassan proved hard for Sharks’ defense to deal with, and Mwana picked the defense-splitting pass with a nice shot into the net.

Sharks could have equalized in the 20th but Eric Kapaito was less clinical with his effort when he was left with Shikalo to beat.

In the 26^th minute, the Dockers doubled their advantage with Yema Mwana shot from a tight angle past goalkeeper Gad Matthews.

Omotto then partially broke Bandari’s fans hearts with a powerful volley past Shikalo, who looked shaky in between the sticks.

Moments later floodgates opened as players braved through the soggy pitch until the end of the first half.

Match officials accessed the water-logged pitch and finally, the decision was eventually made to abandon the game.

“The match officials assessed the pitch at half-time and believed it would be dangerous to continue playing on it,” a spokesperson for the organizers said.

“All goals will count as the officials declared that the match will resume tomorrow from the second half at the same venue starting from 11 am.”

According to the tournament regulations, extra time and if need be penalty shoot-out will be used if the teams stay deadlocked after regulation time.

The winner is set to go home with Kshs 2 Million ($200,000) and will have a chance to represent the country in the 2019/2020 CAF Confederation Cup.

The incident just brought back the old debate about the state of football pitches in the country as many thought Kasarani was an all-weather facility.