Brighton & Hove Albion winger Yankuba Minteh was the chief destroyer as the Scorpions raced into a 3-0 lead at the half-time break. The speedy winger set up Sheriff Sinyan to open the scoring, grabbed the second from a beautiful finish, before setting up Musa Barrow for the third, as the Scorpions totally destroyed the home side in a one-sided first-half affair.
Despite Austria-bound Ryan Ogam pulling a goal back with nine minutes left, it was not enough to deny Gambia maximum points.
Kenya committed back-to-back mistakes
Speaking after the game, Olunga of Al Arabi in the Saudi Pro League, cited their defeat to their own mistakes while lauding their perfect start before the Scorpions scored the opener against the run of play.
”Today, honestly, we lost the game because of our own mistakes. We started the game quite well, the first 20 minutes were on top of it, we created a few opportunities…we were there in the game, but we made three back-to-back mistakes and were punished,” the lanky Olunga, who captained the side, told reporters.
”At the top level, it is really difficult to come back after committing such mistakes, 3-0 at half time, it was a mountain to climb, but the team showed fighting spirit until the end, we did not give up, we wanted to make our fans proud but at the end of the day, it was not to be.”
Harambee Stars’ slim chance of qualifying for their first-ever World Cup had already gone up in smoke on Wednesday after Gabon walloped Seychelles 4-0 in another Group F fixture at the National Sports Complex Pitch 1 in Mauritania.
Kenya deserves credit for not giving up
Gambia national team coach Johnathan McKinstry credited Kenya’s fighting spirit despite trailing for most of the fixture.
“I don’t think we have a team in the continent that works harder than the Harambee Stars. Even when they are trailing 3-0, they’re still running, running, running, they’re not giving up. That's a huge credit to the coaches and the character of the players,” McKinstry said.
“The second half proved a bit harder for us because Kenya kept chasing for every ball, they were all over my players, and I think they deserved to get the consolation goal. They indeed fought to get it, and they deserve it.”
Kenya and Gambia had settled for a 3-3 draw in the first meeting of the qualifiers. In the fixture, Gambia had taken a 2-0 lead, but Kenya came twice from behind to snatch a draw.
Reflecting on the game, the former Gor Mahia coach said: “Back then, we were very disappointed because we allowed Kenya to come back into the game and snatch a draw.
“In truth, we could have been four or five goals ahead, but let Kenya back into the game. Today you saw the development, we were more settled in our new system and more disciplined in managing situations.”
Kenya will face Seychelles in their next fixture at the same venue on Tuesday, the same day Gambia will come up against Burundi.
