Harambee stars striker Vincent Oburu. [PHOTO/Citizen]
AFC Leopards man Vincent Oburu struck in the 20th minute to hand Harambee Stars a deserved win over Tanzania Kilimanjaro Stars in the ongoing Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournament.
The match was played at Kenyatta Stadium on Monday.
Speaking after the match, coach Paul Put said Stars deserved the win as they sought to progress in the tournament after Zanzibar earlier dethroned them from the Group A helm.
"We deserved to win, I think the media did not expect it. The most important thing is that we have won. Now we shift our focus to the semis,” Put said.
“The changes I made were informed of several factors, including resting some players who I felt were tired, but I also need to see what every player can offer,” he added.
“Oburu was good, Ovella too, but we have to give it to the entire team. We are not there yet, but we are making progress. From here we go to analyse Burundi and plan for them, hopefully our injured players will be fit by the time we play next,” the Belgian added .
The script was different for his Tanzanian counterpart Ammy Conrad Kinje who decried massive wastage from his players.
“We had our chances, had we converted at least 20 percent of them it would have been different," he said.
“Of course we gave some players who had not featured in the previous matches a chance to play, but it should not be an excuse. We have a duty to do, and we learnt important lessons in this tournament,” said Kinje.
Stars will now meet Burundi in the semis while Uganda Cranes prepare for a date with Zanzibar.