Marked for David Polepole
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match9 Sep 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Siyanda Ndlovu obliged against KCB. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Tusker.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Siyanda Ndlovu takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Siyanda Ndlovu provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match12 Sep 2026
Tusker cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market14 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Ulinzi Stars moved on, David Polepole reports back to Tusker, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Tusker
Siyanda Ndlovu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Victor Mbaoma. 2‑1 against AFC Leopards, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Sep 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.14, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market7 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ulinzi Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tusker is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tusker can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 15 in, 0 out at Tusker
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match5 Sep 2026
Tusker make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tusker have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ikorodu City have kept their man, and Tusker go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Siyanda Ndlovu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.54. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Aug 2026
Tusker march on in the cup
Mathare United are out and Tusker go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match29 Aug 2026
No mercy from Tusker
Ulinzi Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tusker were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Siyanda Ndlovu, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tusker, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Tusker did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The deal with Ikorodu City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Match29 Aug 2026
Still nobody has beaten Tusker
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Tusker asked and Gor Mahia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.