AFC Leopards boss explains why Ingwe can now challenge Gor Mahia & Tusker FC

AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda believes his team has narrowed the gap between them and the leading sides in the country and it will not be long before they start challenging them.

Leopards are currently sixth on the FKF Premier League log with 47 points, 20 behind champions Gor Mahia, and nine adrift of second placed Tusker, the two sides that have shared the last 14 titles.

While the gap still looks big, Shikanda says his team is now closer to dislodging them following improvements made in recent months, especially this year when they have been one of the form teams in the division.

“We have been trying to build something but football has its ups and downs. You do not know what will happen tomorrow in terms of where we are and we don’t know whether we will leverage from what we have built,” said Shikanda.

“Where we are as AFC Leopards, we have bridged all those gaps that have been there with the leading teams like Tusker, Gor Mahia.

“Even the match against Kenya Police [FKF semi-final] was one-sided and if it ended yesterday [Sunday] I don’t think we could have had this result.”

It is a bold statement from Shikanda whose side has flattered to deceive in recent seasons as Gor Mahia and Tusker continue winning titles.

Ingwe are still waiting for a first league title since 1998 and have been let down by a number of poor decisions in the boardroom that have seen a scattergun approach to transfers while coaches have been hired and fired at the slightest sign of trouble.

Meanwhile, Gor Mahia and Tusker seem to be getting it better and have also enjoyed some stability in the dugout.

Ingwe are set to finish their seventh straight season without a trophy after losing the FKF Cup semi-final to Kenya Police and there are already murmurs of discontent over coach Tomas Trucha, who arrived in October, and helped lift the team from near the relegation zone to the top six.