Sports
Kada Stars Consolidate Top Spot In Hockey League
Kada Stars of Kaduna last Wednesday consolidated on their top position at the ongoing National Hockey Super League in Abuja as they held defending champions Niger Flickers to a 1-1 draw.
Tidesports source reports that the league which flicked off on August 25 at the Asro-turf pitch of Package B National Stadium is expected to end tomorrow.
The Star game of match day five saw the defending champions, Niger Flickers come into the game desperately needing a win to stake their claim as top spot contenders, while Kada Stars looked to consolidate their lead as table toppers.
The Kaduna boys who could have slipped off from the top position had they lost to the defending champions opened the scoring in the 50th minute of the clash.
This was through a lovely field goal scored by Kelvin Linus after an intense 49 minutes of battle against the defending champions.
The three-time champions who lost to Stallions of Lagos by a lone goal on Tuesday however got a much needed late equalizer through Aliyu Idris in the 54th minute.
The goal ensured that the spoils were shared as Niger Flickers did not suffer back-to-back loses for the first time in the league.
The draw meant that Kada Stars consolidated on their position at the top of the log with just two games to the classification games.
In other games played last Wednesday, Yobe Desert Rollers beat Delta Force 2-1 thanks to goals from Bala Husseni and Adamu Sadiq.
Yobe Desert Rollers opened the scoring in the 9th minute through Husseni but Bernard Wilson powered Delta Force back in the 28th minute of the game.
The Yobe club side however got the winning goal through Sadiq in the 54th minute.
Sikiru Salawu scored all three goals in Stallions’ 3-2 scrappy win against IGP Flickers.
Salawu scored his first-two goals in the 15th and 32nd minutes before Awasa Augustine pulled one back in the 35th minute from a well converted penalty corner.
Salawu completed his hat-trick when he stepped up to convert a penalty stroke awarded after Ezekiel Faluyi was brought down by IGP Flickers goalie.
Bala Emmanuel reduced the deficit in the 51st minute to ensure the game ended with supporters of both teams on the edge of their seats.
The Stallions however looked like a shadow of the side that put up an excellent performance against defending champions Niger Flickers on match day four as they were unimpressive against IGP Flickers.
In the last game of the day, Police Machine beat 3-2 Nasarawa Flickers.
With just two precise passes, Police Machine went in front as Tosin Adekeye scooped a ball from 50 yards out which found Mohammed Inuwa who drove in and finished with aplomb.
Two minutes after he scored his first goal, Mohammed Inuwa scored his second in the 16 minutes but Nasarawa Flickers pulled one back in the 19th minute through Usman Mustapha.
Inuwa completed his hat-trick when he scored again in the 37th minute from a penalty corner.
Nasarawa Flickers refused to go down without a fight as they reduced the deficit in 56th minute through Godwin Sunday from a penalty corner.
Tidesports source also reports that the win catapulted Police Machine into the second position on the eight team log with 11 points, two behind table toppers Kada Stars.
Defending champions, Niger Flickers are third with 10 points, while Stallions are fourth with nine points.
Heartland Technical Manager, Emmanuel Amuneke has praised his players for not losing focus at the crucial moment in Sunday’s 2-1 home win over Shooting Stars in a NPFL Matchday 24 fixture in Owerri.
The Naze Millionaires defeated the Oluyole Warriors through Chukwuma Agor and John Bassey goals in the 31st and 88th minutes with Mustapha Adam’s 80th minute spot kick a mere consolation for the visitors.
Amuneke while speaking to journalists shortly after the encounter, said his boys showed the zeal and determination to seal the three points and that despite the shenanigans of the centre referee, Kolawole Emmanuel, the boys were never troubled.l
“We were eager to get the three points and we were aware Shooting Stars are a good side and won’t allow us to have our way easily,” Amuneke told journalists in Owerri.
“We planned for them and almost throughout the entire game, they were never a threat to our team. We were able to control the game from the beginning. It was unfortunate how the game ended. We were just focussed on the three points and we are thrilled we got it. It was a very good game from both sides but we subjected them to constant pressure almost throughout the game.”
While he was asked if he believed his boys could finish the season impressively, Amuneke was evasive but noted that he and his players would continue to work harder.
“Everything in line is possible but we know that nothing happens without hard work. We will continue to work harder and continue to see how we can grow as a team. We have a lot of young players in the team. Some of them just got their topflight breakthrough.
“We didn’t lose focus at the time of the controversies. We continued to do the same thing we have been doing and taking the game to them.”
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, turned the sod of the new Olympic-standard 25,000-capacity Bayelsa Stadium project at Igbogene, Yenagoa, as part of the activities marking the fifth anniversary of the Senator Douye Diri administration.
The former Nigerian leader performed the ground-breaking ceremony as Governor Diri restated his appeal to the federal government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), oil firms operating in the state and the private sector to join hands with his administration to develop sporting talents.
The Federal Government through the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) equally thumped up Governor Diri for initiating the project.
Dr. Jonathan expressed delight over the project, saying as a Bayelsan, he was duty bound to celebrate with the state government for the progress so far achieved.
He lauded Diri’s developmental strides, urging him not to rest on his laurels and that the contractor and the state government should ensure the project met the highest standards.
Jonathan also called on the state and federal governments to set up a sports fund to cater for sportsmen after their active days and encourage younger ones to be involved in sports.
He said: “This is my state and I have to celebrate with the government for the progress so far made. This is an iconic project that will develop the state. Please do not rest on your laurels as we want this stadium to meet the best standards.
“I am happy with the presence of relevant federal government officials. I hope they will guide the state well and support where necessary.
“As a country, we must have a fund to care for sportsmen. The federal and state government can think about it so that the younger generation will be interested in sports.
“I am happy that you gave a target of 24 months and I hope that by that time I will escort President Tinubu to Bayelsa to inaugurate it.”
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has condoled the family of former Nigeria international midfielder, Ayo Ogunlana, who died in Kaduna on Friday after observing his early-morning walk.
NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, showered tributes on the departed midfield pearl, who was a star attraction during a number of important Nigeria FA Cup battles in the 1980s and held sway in the middle for the Super Eagles in the late 1980s, and at the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Algeria.
“We are very sad to learn of the sudden passing of Ayo Ogunlana, only a couple of weeks after the demise of another former Eagle, Moses Effiong (a member of the 1980 AFCON-winning Green Eagles squad, in far-away USA). Ogunlana was a great midfielder who made playing football look so easy with his majestic touches and turns, and his magnificent free-kicks.
“We pray that the Almighty will grant both of them eternal rest and grant the families they have left behind the fortitude to bear the losses.”
Ogunlana was magisterial in the midfield as Nigeria overhauled Guinea and Zimbabwe to qualify for the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations, and was imperial against Cameroon in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Ibadan that the Super Eagles won with an emphatic 2-0. He also played in the 1990 ECOWAS Cup competition that Nigeria hosted in Kaduna.