Sports
Plateau United Overcomes Rivers United
Elisha Golbe’s exquisite free kick on the 33rd minute set the tone for a richly-deserved 2-0 victory for Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions, Plateau United over Rivers United last Wednesday.
Burly striker, Emeka Umeh added the second, tapping in Tosin Omoyele’s defence splitting pass from close range as the Jos lords won the match day two NPFL clash at a canter.
The champions started on the front foot but stern defending and shocking displays of profligacy by the hosts’ forwards meant there was no scoring following a frenetic opening to the game decided at the New Jos Stadium.
Elum Sochima almost gave Rivers United a shock lead against the run of play in the 26th minute but watched in frustration as his rasping drive flew just wide off Okiemute Odah’s right hand post.
The hosts continued to carve out the better openings and ball possession but it was a premonition the guests from Port Harcourt failed to heed.
They conceded a free kick just after the half hour mark, 20 odd yards from goal and Golbe licked his lips in anticipation, stepping forward and planting a deft effort into the corner with a shell-shocked Robert Cole barely moving a muscle.
Rivers United improved marginally after the break following the introduction of Ivoirian marksman, Guy Kuemian shortly after the restart but it was the home side that scored again with Umeh tapping home from close range following good work by the impressive Omoyele.
The visitors attempted to hurl themselves back into the contest but Sochima, Kuemian and Ochowechi ‘Oche’ Salefu all failed to score from promising positions.
Plateau United almost added a late third but Cole impressively turned away Kabiru Umar’s fierce drive from point blank range with the striker already wheeling away in celebration.
Technical manager of Rivers United, Azunda Stanley Eguma and his counterpart from Plateau, Kennedy Boboye both spoke to our official website, www.riversunitedfc.com.ng (audio files have been attached) after the game.
The win lifts Plateau United to second on the log with maximum points from their opening two matches while Rivers United slipped to 13th on the log after amassing three points from their opening two fixtures.
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