Sports
Sharks Secure Away Victory In Abuja
A 29th minute goal by Terry Envoh on Wednesday in Abuja gave visiting Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt a 1-0 win over hosts Plateau United FC of Jos.
In the rescheduled Nigerian Premier League match played at the Old Parade Ground, Sharks took advantage of their best scoring chance to pick the full points.
The match saw Sharks taking the game in hand when Envoh chested down a pullout before knocking the ball past goalkeeper Isah Abdul.
Efforts thereafter by Plateau United to draw level were thwarted as the visitors resorted to massive defending and counter-attacking to contain their opponents.
Plateau United were, however, not helped by their poor finishing in front of goal, missing numerous valuable scoring opportunities as the game wore to an end.
Plateau United’s Technical Adviser, Ndubuisi Nduka, said the defeat was a disappointment for his team in spite of their efforts.
“We tried our best, but it was disappointing that we had to lose.
“We will go back to correct our lapses and ensure we get something better from our remaining games,” he said.
On his part, Sharks FC’s Technical Adviser, John Obuh, said his team had to slow down the pace of their game after their opponents resorted to a more robust game.
“We were forced into two substitutions late in the first half as a result of the way our opponents started playing, and we only needed to keep up to maintain our lead in the second half,” he said.
Obuh, who is also the Flying Eagles head coach, said the win was good for his team and would give them more confidence to face their home match this weekend against Kaduna United.
“It is a good result for us and it will help us be in the right frame of mind for the home match this weekend,” he said.
The match was played in Abuja as a result of the lingering crisis in Jos which had prevented the state’s two Premier League clubsides from hosting their home matches in the state.
The two clubs, Plateau United and JUTH FC will, however, play their home matches in Jos as from this weekend.
This was after the league organisers, the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), received security guarantees from the Special Task Force in Jos and it gave approval for the clubs to resume playing there.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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