'Consistency of our referees is very poor' - Mathare United's Ali

Mathare United head coach Salim Ali believes poor officiating contributed to their 3-1 loss to Gor Mahia in the FKF-Premier League.

The 2008-league champions hoped to get at least a point from their opponents who had lost their initial four matches in all competitions, but ended up with nothing at all.

The former Ulinzi Stars coach is, however, impressed with the way his charges played.

"I am impressed with the playing unit but unhappy with the results," Ali told Goal on Friday.

"For instance, against Sofapaka, we came down from 3-0 to 3-2 before conceding late into the game. When we played Gor Mahia, we went down 2-0 before scoring a goal. But again, we ended up conceding late and lost 3-1. It was a big effort from the guys.

"First game was an open game, we created many chances as compared to Sofapaka, only that we did not take them. Sofapaka did not create chances to score, but we gave them goals.

"It is the same case with Gor Mahia [on Thursday]; we donated goals."

The youthful coach went ahead to opine why he felt the officials contributed to their loss against the reigning champions.

"The consistency of our referees in terms of decision making is very poor," Ali added.

"Because there was a second booking and a red card to [Alphonse Onyango]. He had been booked earlier and after conceding the penalty, I expected him to receive a second yellow card which would have warranted him his marching orders but it was not the case."

Ali has further explained why he needs about four games to gauge his team after a long lay-off.

"I am having a pre-season in a season which is a situation no coach would love to be in at the moment," he continued.

"Last season, we managed to prepare well for the season by playing some tournaments and competitive matches. This time around, that has not been the case.

"So I am using our first three or four games to prepare and after that, I think the team will be ready. The players are gelling and it does not happen automatically."