Sports
Three Draws Mark NPFL Week ll Fixtures
A total of three draws and Seven home victories were the hallmark of week ll fixtures of the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPL, at the week.
SHARKS FC 0-0 and SHOOTING STARS
Shooting Stars got their first point on the road after holding Sharks to a goalless draw in the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt.
KWARA UNITED 2-0 EL KANEMI
The Afonja Warriors recorded a comfortable win over El Kanemi in Ilorin. Dare Ojo’s 33rd minute goal put the hosts in front before Hussein Yahaya’s 73rd minute goal helped seal the win.
NEMBE CITY 1-0 LOBI STARS
Samuel Akinbinu came off the bench in the second half of the game to help the Kala Ekulema boys record a slim home win over Lobi Stars.
WARRI WOLVES 2-1 DOLPHINS FC
Oghenekaro Etebo put Wolves ahead in the 32nd minute but Chigozie Ihunda equalised for the visitors in the 82nd minute. Lazarus Chukwu, who nearly joined Rangers in the off season, grabbed the winning goal for the hosts deep into added time.
ENYIMBA 3-0 KANO PILLARS
Last season’s topscorer Gwar Sibi scored a hat-trick to help Enyimba dispatch of visiting Kano Pillars.
SUNSHINE 0-0 ABS FC
ABS responded to their mid-week 4-1 loss to El Kanemi Warriors by holding Sunshine Stars to a goalless draw in Akure.
KADUNA UNITED 1-0 GOMBE UNITED
Hassan Abubakar scored in the 50th minute of the game to help Kaduna United record a slim win over visiting Gombe.
HEARTLAND 2-1 AKWA UNITED
Goals from Isah Akor and Ebere Odiche helped the Naze Millionaire’s record a home win over Akwa United. Akor put the hosts in front but John Aguda equalized for the visitors almost immediately before Odiche’s late goal helped seal the win.
ENUGU RANGERS 1-1 BAYELSA UNITED
Rangers missed the chance to go top of the League table after being held to a 1-1 draw at home. Oghogho Oduokpe put Rangers ahead from the spot but Samuel Agba levelled the scores for the visitors.
NASARAWA UNITED 2-1 WIKKI TOURISTS
Victor Namo gave the visitors a first-half lead but Ibrahim struck for the visitors to level the scores in the 72nd. The hosts however grabbed the winner deep into extra time. The game was however marred by violent scenes as the home fans invaded the pitch after the game to beat up the referee, Chrisantus Okoro from Imo State. Officials of the visiting team were also attacked with Wikki’s assistant coach Gambo Ibrahim suffering a broken arm.
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