Six-time Nigeria
Ijebu-Ode Stadium, Ogun State
Enyimba was billed to face Kano Pillars in the last game of the Super Four, but the Peoples Elephant was spared the trouble of having to trouble its head after
Kwara United did it the favour of defeating Sunshine Stars of Akure.
The Akure-based outfit was hoping to add Kadiri Ikhana’s side to its list of the conquered after it had stunned Kano Pillars by one-nil last Friday.
Both teams defied the torrential rains in Ijebu-Ode by putting up their best.
But Ikhana’s men was a different side from the one that lost to Enyimba last
Friday, as Kelvin Kpakor and Ukeyima Akombo scored on five and 38 minutes before
Emmanuel Sunday netted Sunshine Stars’ consolation on 63 minutes.
In spite of four minutes of added time, Solomon Ogbeide’s side could not salvage the situation and the result left Enyimba’s clash with Kano Pillars irrelevant, as the Peoples Elephant wins its first trophy of the new season.
It was Ogbeide’s men that started the game with so much vigour, as strikers
Ganiyu Anifowoshe and Dele Olorundare failed to take their chances in the opening two minutes.
But it was Kwara United that stunned Sunshine Stars on five minutes when Kelvin
Kpakor, son of former Nigeria
Afeso Attah from almost 30 yards.
That goal breathed life into the team of Ikhana, as it asserted itself in the next 15 minutes though Sunshine Stars battled without any breakthrough.
On 38 minutes, a nice great interchange of passes among Kwara United players freed Akombo, who made no mistake from less than 20 yards.
With the rains thumping heavily on the synthetic turf, Kwara United decided to sit back, as Sunshine Stars took charge of dictating the tempo of the game.
In the restart, Kwara United still stuck to its style of sitting back, but it was Sunshine Stars that fought back into game with Emmanuel Sunday netting the consolation.
No comments:
Post a Comment