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Home Victories Dominate NPFL Wk Nine Fixtures
ABS FC 1-0 SHOOTING STARS
Ibrahim Abdullahi’s 62nd minute goal was enough to hand ABS the three points at stake against visiting 3SC of Ibadan at the Kwara State Stadium.
HEARTLAND FC 3-0 WIKKI TOURISTS
Heartland thumped visiting Wikki Tourists of Bauchi. Happy Okuoka gave the hosts a first half lead before further goals from Isah Akor and Esom Tochukwu helped seal the win in the second half.
ENUGU RANGERS 4-0 KANO PILLARS
Rangers sentenced Kano Pillars to a humiliating defeat in Enugu. Two quick goals from Bitrus Dada and Oghogho Oduokpe gave Rangers a first-half lead. Further goals in the second half from Flying Eagles striker Alhaji Gero and Sanusi Sani completed the rout.
ENYIMBA 2-0 DOLPHINS
Former Rangers striker Ifeanyi Edeh and Ugo Nwachukwu scored in either half to help Enyimba end their winless streak of five games and get their season back on track.
NEMBE CITY 2-0 GOMBE UNITED
Okiki Musampa scored a brace to help Nembe City dispatch of visiting Gombe United at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa.
KADUNA UNITED 1-0 EL KANEMI WARRIORS
Iliya Dibo scored to help Kaduna United get a slim win over fellow Northerners in their Week 9. El Kanemi tried to park the bus without success.
WARRI WOLVES 2-1 KWARA UNITED
Former Rangers and Akwa United goal-poacher Najare Musa scored twice in the first half to help Wolves get their second win of the season in a difficult game against Kwara United. Sibi Lawal pulled a goal back for the visitors but it was not enough to stage a comeback.
SUNSHINE STARS 3-0 AKWA UNITED
Dele Olorundare bagged a brace and Ibrahim Ajani also scored to help Sunshine Stars beat Akwa United and climb up to second place on the NPFL table. The Akure-based club have maintained a consistent form at home, winning all their previous home games against Kaduna United, Gombe United, Wikki Tourists and Lobi Stars.
NASARAWA UNITED 1-1 LOBI STARS
Collins John equalised to salvage a point for Lobi Stars in the River Benue derby after Victor Namo had put the hosts in front with a goal in the first half.
SHARKS FC 2-1 BAYELSA UNITED
Sharks had to come from behind to claim a late win at home against Bayelsa United. Gomo Onduku put the visitors ahead in the 22nd minute, but Chiamaka Madu equalised for Sharks within a minute into the second half. Abraham Ezeoha later got the winner for the hosts.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor