Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah is drawing positives from Al Khartoum's 3-1 defeat to Gor Mahia in the semi final of the CECAFA Cup last Friday.
The runaway KPL leaders snuffed out the hopes of Sudan's Al-Khartoum, another chasing a first title by outclassing them in a come-from-behind 3-1 victory.
The early kick off saw Gor Mahia concede in the first minute after their defender failed to deal with a cross from Anthony Akum, allowing Khartoum captain Amin Ibrahim to tap in the empty net.
It was a shock for a Gor Mahia side that has not tasted defeat in 28 games, both domestically and international until the 24th minute when Michael Olunga scored a penalty to draw level after Wagdi Awad Abdalla handled the ball in the penalty area.
From this moment, it was Gor Mahia on rampage and in the space of one minute Innocent Wafula scored the second with a superb shot that left Khartoum goalie Mohamed Ibrahim with no option and give his side a 2-1 lead at the interval.
In the second half, Gor Mahia resumed strongly and in the 55th minutes Medie Kagere sealed victory, tapping home Olunga's cross.
Kwesi Appiah's side struggled to comeback whilst Gor Mahia shot stopper Boniface Oluoch pulled some superb saves to deny them.
"It's my first experience of the tournament, and to play three games in one week. It has been a good tournament for us. We believe we have got more positives than negatives and I believe the boys gave their best but the result did not come our way. We have to believe that Gor Mahia were a better side," said Appiah.
His opposite number, Kwesi Appiah who led Ghana to the 2014 World Cup finals, was crestfallen with the loss, saying lack of concentration cost them.
"Today we didn't play well; we just gave them the goals. We dominated the game but the two quick goals dampened the spirits of the players. Gor is a good team and deserved the victory," he conceded.
"In a game of football when you are playing at such high level, you have to concentrate throughout the match because the moment you lose concentration, you give the opponent a chance to catch up with you," Khartoum coach Kwesi Appiah said.
"That is what happened to us today. All the three goals came as a result of lack of concentration on my defenders."
Al Khartoum, whose emergence is credited to Ghanaian World Cup coach James Kwesi Appiah, were the outstanding performers in the last eight when they humiliated former champions APR of Rwanda 4-0 and remain a real threat to anyone.