Nigerian Football

Shooting Stars Seek Redemption in Makurdi

Published

7 years ago

May 27, 2017

BY JUBRIL AROWOLO.

The Oluyole Warriors suffered a huge defeat at home last Sunday as FC IfeanyiUbah clinched three points at Adamasingba, but their opponents this weekend, Lobi Stars, continued their march up the Nigeria Professional Football League table by recording an away 1-0 win over Sunshine Stars in Akure.
The 0-3 home loss to FC IfeanyiUbah in the Week 20 fixture was still an unimaginable dream for an average Shooting Stars’ supporter.
But in the actual sense, it is the bitter reality and also very obvious as the team languishes in the 19th position on the log and swimming in the relegation waters.
Perhaps, the heat in the relegation zone is becoming quite uncomfortable. This has prompted the teams’ top hierarchy to give the coaches a wakeup call to reassess their approach and strategy and find a way out of danger.
This sets the tone for the Match Day 21 fixture as Shooting Stars Sports Club heads to the 15,000-seater Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi to face Lobi Stars on Sunday afternoon.
This fixture is the one the team must take with all seriousness knowing that a further decline might plummet their position and chances of surviving the drop thus, in getting a good result; they must be in their best elements.
Shooting Stars’ last visit to Aper Aku Stadium was a 1-2 loss to Lobi Stars but an emphatic 2-0 win in Ibadan on the opening day of the season in January might serve as a motivation for the lads in grinding out a good result on the road. Also, our good precedence at away matches will also come into play and be a great factor on the outcome of the match.
The lads are already in Makurdi with a squad which consists of some of the mid-season signings and they are optimistic about the upcoming fixture. 3sc.com.ng touched base with the experienced Ajani Ibrahim before heading off and he told us that the “team has moved past last week’s result and working really hard to change its fortune’’.
He continued, “3SC is not supposed to be in this kind of situation, we have resolved that all hands must be on deck and we can only prove that on the pitch, that starts on Sunday, we hope for a good result’’.
Fatai Amoo was positive in his pre match interview and offered that he is upbeat and still believe the team will survive the drop as the Technical Crew has figured out a few lapses and corrected them ahead of the fixture.
Lobi Stars’ Kingsley Eduwo will hope to continue where he stopped last week as his 15th minute goal was all Lobi needed to sink Sunshine Stars in front of their fans in Akure.
All said and done, we hope to start the drive of surviving relegation and also putting the team in a rightful position with the Lobi match. Hopefully the team will be able to grind out a good result on the road.

Nigerian Football

Remo Stars add fuel to the fire as title chase turns East – West battle

Published

11 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Added time-goal specialists, Remo Stars pulled off one of their now familiar traits, chalking up a valuable point as Skipper Nduka Junior scored in the 90+4 minute to scuttle an impending victory by Doma United on Wednesday evening.

When all-hope seemed over, Remo Stars had scored hope-reviving goals as they did against Lobi Stars, Insurance and a host of others in the Nigeria Premier League.

Getting a valuable point take them from fifth position to fourth their haul to 50, just a point below that of second and third placed Enyimba and Lobi Stars respectively.

The 1-1 scoreline also changed the complexion of the league table as their South West rivals were pushed down from their initial fourth position.

As it is, the struggle for the title is taking regional colouration as the top two- Enugu Rangers and Enyimba are from the South East while fourth and fifth – Remo Stars and Shooting Stars are from the South West.

Lobi Stars from the middle belt, stand in-between the South East and South West in the power struggle.

Remo Stars at the fourth position however still have an outstanding home game against Rivers United and that could still change the positions of the top six teams when the match is played.

Attention will now shift to match-day 31 as the league embarks on its home stretch.

On Friday, relegation-bound Heartland will be hosting rejuvenated Shooting Stars who have suddenly discovered they could return to continental competition next seasons after 25 years.

They have lately been having unbeaten runs. On Saturday, Kwara United will host desperate Akwa United who are struggling to avoid dropping into the lower league.

On the same day, Abia Warriors will be at home against Bayelsa United.

On Sunday seven matches are on the card. They are:

Kano Pillars v. Gombe United

Katsina United v. Sporting Lagos

Lobi Stars v. Bendel Insurance

Niger Tornadoes v Doma United

Plateau United v. Remo Stars

Rivers United v. Enugu Rangers

Sunshine Stars v. Enyimba

Nigerian Football

Rangers tenaciously hold on at Nigeria League top position

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Enugu Rangers are holding on firmly at the top of the Nigeria Premier League after getting a hard 3-2 victory over visiting Abia Warriors.

The win consolidated their top position as the 2016 Nigerian champions now have 54 points, three points ahead their oriental brothers, Enyimba who are currently second on the log.

But the keen battle this season sees Lobi Stars who lost 2-0 to a rejuvenated Shooting Stars in Ibadan.

The victory has seen the Shooting Stars climbing up steadily and now placing fourth on the log. But their fellow western rivals may bounce back into reckoning and could leapfrog into second position if they obtain full points in their away duel on Wednesday with Doma United.

Just as the battle at the top is tough, so also it is at the backwaters. Probably Gombe United are the first confirmed for relegation. Heartland, Akwa United, Rivers United and borderline candidate, Sunshine Stars are in fierce battle.

Rivers United however still have six outstanding matches and could still leapfrog into safety zone. But Akwa United continued to their struggle to swim out of the relegation zone as they hammered Niger Tornadoes 4-1.

Tuesday results

Shooting Stars 2-0 Lobi Stars

Sporting Lagos 1-0 Sunshine Stars

Rivers United 3-1 Plateau United

Gombe United 1-2 Kwara United

Enyimba 1-0 Heartland

Enugu Rangers 3-2 Abia Warriors

Bendel Insurance 2-1 Kano Pillars

Bayelsa United 1-1 Katsina United

Akwa United 4-1 Niger United

Wednesday Fixture

Doma United v Remo Stars

Nigerian Football

Manu Garba, U17 World Cup winner, returns as Golden Eaglets’ Head Coach

Published

6 days ago

April 12, 2024

Kunle Solaja

The Board of Nigeria Football Federation has appointed former U17 World Cup winner Manu Garba as Head Coach of the Nigeria U17 boys, Golden Eaglets.

Garba had, in the same role, led the Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA U17 World Cup for Nigeria in the United Arab Emirates in 2013 – Nigeria’s fourth triumph at that stage.

Garba’s world-conquering squad in 2013 included Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success, Musa Mohammed, Chidiebere Nwakali and goalkeeper Dele Alampasu.

The squad, which finished as runners-up at the African U17 Championship in Morocco after a penalty shootout defeat by Cote d’Ivoire, defeated Mexico 6-1 in their opening game, drew 3-3 with Sweden and hammered Iraq 5-0. In the Round of 16, they ran Iran ragged 4-1, dispatched Uruguay 2-0 in the quarter-finals and trounced Sweden 3-0 in the semi-finals, before they dislodged Mexico by the same margin in the final to lift the trophy.

The former Nigeria international will now immediately resume the role and take charge of the team’s preparations for next month’s WAFU B U17 Championship, taking place in Ghana.