Tusker FC defender Vincent Ngesa believes that his team has what it takes to wrestle the league from leaders Gor Mahia FC. Ngesa, who was brought in from Nzoia Sugar to stabilize the Tusker defense at the start of the season has been a revelation and believes that it won't be easy to pip the current table leaders.
“We expect to win the league at the end of the season. We have fought hard and tried to stick to the plan the best way we can. Gor is a tough side, no doubt about that, and it won’t be easy pipping them for the title,” Ngesa told SportsKeeda.
Gor Mahia already carries the advantage in the league being that they are currently on top of the league, level on points with Tusker; they have played 3 games less though. But that doesn’t faze the impressive Ngesa.
“Gor Mahia is tough side but you can’t count points not in the bag yet. People tend to think that Gor will win all their games in hand, but you never know, they may lose them. You can wish a loss for an opponent but the only way we stay on top is if they lose their matches.
Tusker is one of the few teams that haven’t quite struggled financially after the departure of the league’s sponsor SportPesa, as the team is majorly sponsored by East Africa Breweries Limited. Gor, however, recently got government assistance of Kshs. 10 million, much to the complain of other teams, but Ngesa feels as the defending champions, they 'deserve' the assistance.
“I don’t want to use the word deserve, but there isn’t a better word that can be used in such a scenario. If they didn’t ‘deserve’ it the government wouldn’t have given them the money. The government probably felt a bit guilty after SportPesa left, since they were Gor’s official sponsors. They probably had to do something so that Gor would meet their obligations"
He finally thanked the club for giving him a new platform after being brought from Nzoia Sugar.
Tusker is one of the country’s biggest sides and it is an honor to play here. I started my career here and I have matured since going to Nzoia and winning promotion with them. Since I came back to the KPL in 2017, I’ve grown and when the time came, Tusker was the right choice. I highly thank God for this far I’ve come and Nzoia for all they have done in my career, I probably wouldn’t have grown without going there. I hope I pay the coach [Robert Matano of Tusker FC] for the faith he has shown in me.”
The Kenyan Premier League is back next weekend and Ngesa expects to continue leading Tusker FC to further heights. He will most probably hope Gor loses all their games in hand for his team to stand any chance of leapfrogging the current table toppers into first place.