Rivers Angels Beat Flamingoes In PH

The Flamingoes suffered
their first defeat after a 3-1 thrashing by Rivers Angels of Port-Harcourt in the second match of their 2014 U-17World Cup preparatory friendly at the Liberation Stadium last Sunday.
However, the Nigeria U-17 women national team side who secured a 2-1win against Nasarawa Amazons earlier in their first of four citiestraining tour failed to duplicate their winning form against RiversAngels in preparation for the Costa Rica 2014 FIFA U-17 Women WorldCup, billed for March.
Rivers Angels started brightly but missed out on an early lead in the10th minute from a penalty kick as the Nigeria U-17 goalkeeper Onyinye Okeke mustered a brilliant save to keep the game level.
Second goal hero against the Amazons of Nasarawa in Lafia and Pelican gangling forward Chinwe Ihezuo broke the deadlock in the 40th minutewith a goal from a close range  to hand the Flamingoes the lead at thebreak.
Upbeat Angels of Rivers resumed the second half with a bang as they fired home an equaliser in the 48th minute through Ngozi  Ebere before famous star Stella Mbachu drilled past the Nigeria U-17 girls to put her side in front six minutes later.
The rampant Coach Edwin Okon led wards never put a stop at making a statement of supremacy against the Coach Bala Nkiyu tutored age-grade side when forward Onyinyechi Ohadugha slotted home a sublime effort to complete the rout in the 88th minute.
Head coach of the Nigeria U-17 women side, Bala Nkiyu praised his girls’ “character and fighting spirit”, although he said that there is still plenty of work to be done in building a strong team for the World Cup.
“I’m happy with the performance of my girls, they played so well, but  could not overcome their opponent,  it was a good match for us, a lot  of mistakes have been identified and we shall improve to get stronger,” he assured.
Meanwhile, the head coach of Rivers Angels who also doubles as Super Falcons gaffer, Edwin Okon, has hailed the performance of the Flamingoes and tipped them to go far at the U-17 World Cup in Costa Rica.
Okon stated that the team will be a team to beat at the World Cup, he however urged the players to step up their game and  he also advised the coaches to maintain their focus on ensuring the country succeeds.