NPL ROUND UP: Golden Boy Ehiosun lifts Warri Wolves

Ekhigo Ehiosun
Ekhigo Ehiosun netted the first hat_trick this season in the Nigeria Premier League to shoot to the top of the goals chart and propelled Warri Wolves to third spot in the standings.

Ehiosun hit target in the 15th, 63rd and 83rd minutes to take his goal haul to seven, one better than Sunshine Stars midfielder Ajani Ibrahim.
Ehiosun said he made a vow with God in church to score a hat_trick against Sharks and God answered his
prayers.
The player, whose name means ‘Holy Spirit is leading me’, has set a 20_goal personal target this season as Warri Wolves aim to be champions for the first time.
An instant reward for the centre_forward is a call_up to Wednesday’s international friendly against Sierra Leone in Lagos after Everton striker Victor Anichebe could not make the trip on short notice.
Wolves now have 25 points from 14 matches.
Ehiosun, who is also set to feature for Nigeria in an invitational tournament in the US later this month, was playing only his eighth game on Sunday.
He opened his goals account at the Warri City Stadium with a superb strike from a neat interchange of passes, before he again got on the score board off a rebound. He completed his hat_trick when he went clear of the Sharks defence before smashing past the goalkeeper.
Kaduna United climbed to fifth place on the table after a hard_fought 1_0 home win over Enugu Rangers.
The match winner was substitute Ali Adamu, who capitalised on a defensive blunder to shoot past Rangers bulky goalkeeper Godwin Ayalogu.
Adamu would in the dying moments of the game lose consciousness and had to be rushed to hospital after a collision of heads with fellow striker Jude Anieke.
But for the goal, Kaduna’s play was disjointed probably in the absence of top scorer Siman Yusuf and the suspended Rabiu Baita as well as the fact that they are yet to receive their salaries for the past three months.
This was Rangers seventh away loss and they are yet to score away from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu this season.
The ‘Flying Antelopes’ are sixth with 20 points.
Champions Enyimba are now 11th on the table courtesy of a 2_1 win away at relegation_haunted Crown FC with Atanda Sakibu grabbing a brace.
Crown are third from bottom with 11 points.
Okey Nwadike’s glancing header after 15 minutes was enough to give Heartland full marks at the expense of visiting 3SC at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri.
Heartland played with the full compliment of their ‘B’ internationals led by Chibuzor Okonkwo.
The 10,000_capacity stadium was half_filled on the return of ‘The Naze Millionaires’ after staging some home games in Aba and Calabar with the experienced Damien Ude outstanding in midfield.
In Yenagoa, Ocean Boys continued their resurgence with a 1_0 win over Kano Pillars.
They are now in 13th place having recorded 17 points on the back of a superb solo effort by Bola Lekan in the 31st minute.
Lekan rounded up two defenders before finding his mark.
Outstanding for the hosts were goalkeeper Femi Thomas, who pulled off at least three saves, and upcoming central defender Ebinipere Bengo.
Lobi Stars also eased relegation fears with a 1_0 victory over fellow strugglers Zamfara United.
Source:vanguard
Read more...

Sunshine Stars remain on top

Sunshine Stars

Sunshine stars of Akure continued their fine form in the Nigeria Premier League as they defeated their opponents Warri Wolves 3-1 at the Ijebu Ode Township stadium on Wednesday to remain top on the log with 16 points.

The match, which was one of the week eight fixtures played across the country, gave the Akure-based team its fifth victory of the season.

A free kick by Olurundare Dele was headed in by Ajani Ibrahim to give Sunshine the lead in the 5th minute. At the end of the first half, they were three goals up.

Warri Wolves got a consolidatory goal in 90th minute when Tochukwu converted a penalty. Earlier in the week Sunshine Stars duo of striker Akombo Ukeyima and coach Gbenga Ogunbote claimed the first of the NPL monthly awards.

Akombo was voted Player of the Month for November, while Ogunbote claimed the award for Coach of the Month.

The Sunshine hegemony was broken in the Goalkeeper of the Month category, where Warri Wolves Chigozie Agbim ensured that Henry Ayodele would not make it a clean sweep for the Akure team.

Sunshine made a barnstorming start to first month of the new campaign, winning three out of four games to leap to the top of the standings.

They were unlucky to give up two late goals in a 1-2 reverse to 3SC at Ibadan, but then bounced back to claim wins over Enyimba at home, Plateau on the road and then Rangers at home.

Ukeyima’s goals were instrumental to those successes and saw him picked ahead of Heartland’s Osas Okoro and Warri Wolves’ Ehiosu Ekigho.

His boss Ogunbote, beat Dolphins’ Stanley Eguma and Wolves’ Paul Aigbogun.

Warri Wolves went unbeaten in November, and a pivotal part of that was down to great goalkeeping by Chigozie Agbim.

Dolphins Sunday Rotimi came a close second in the glove race.

Source:234next.com

Read more...

Sports Commission backs Premier League over sponsorship deal

 Premier League action

The Nigerian Premier League had a breakthrough yesterday when an adjudication panel set up by the National Sports Commission, gave it the all clear to proceed with MTN as new title sponsors.

Last week, the league organising body announced telecommunications company MTN as its new sponsors on a four-year deal.

Barely twenty four hours later, rival bidders Glo launched a protest, claiming the bidding process was not transparent.

The NFF also weighed in, berating the NPL for ‘not following established protocol’.

On Tuesday, the NSC called all the parties and then set up a committee comprising of 10 lawyers to evaluate the process.

After over 15 hours of deliberation, the panel not only ruled that the NPL had been fair to all parties involved in the process, but commended them for doing what it called ‘a professional job’.

And on Wednesday, after briefing the Nigeria Football Federation President, Aminu Maigari, the NPL was given the go ahead to do business with the new sponsors.

Source:234next.com

Read more...

How Sunshine humbled Wolves

Sunshine Stars are most likely to go into 2011 as leaders of the Nigeria Premier League after a convincing 3-1 win over Warri Wolves in Ijebu Ode on Wednesday.
Read more:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012241492089 Read more...

Africa: Enyimba, Pillars get opponents

Enyimba and Kano Pillars got their opponents for next year‘s CAF Champions League after a draw by the football body in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.

Nigerian champions and two-time CAF Champions League winners Enyimba will challenge Saint Michel de Ouenze of Congo over two legs for a chance to proceed into the second round while Kano Pillars will take on Mighty Barolle of Liberia.

The matches will be played between January and February.

In the Confederation Cup, Sunshine Stars and Kaduna United have drawn a bye into the second round.

Sunshine will await the winner of the first round tie between DFC 8th Arondissement of Central African Republic and Tiko United of Cameroon.

Kaduna United are expected to tackle the winner of the game between Foullah Edifice of Chad and Sony de Ela Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

The second round matches will take place in March and April.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012212503078 Read more...

Pepsi academy plans exposure for students

Director of Pepsi Football Academy, Kasimawo Laloko, has stated that the academy’s students would be exposed to more international competitions locally and internationally to test their skills against youngsters from other parts of the world.

Laloko, who stated this at the end of the just concluded Pepsi Festival of Youth, added that it would equip the academy‘s students with the confidence required to make a successful career as professional footballers.

”More Pepsi Academy students will also have the opportunity of enjoying overseas scholarship which will enable them to play and study in the best schools in the UK,” Laloko said, noting that eight students of the academy were already benefiting from scholarships in St. Bedes College and Brooke House College in Britain.

The revelation of the final day of the Pepsi Festival of Youth which ended ON Thursday at the Pepsi Football College Orile Imo, Ogun State was 13-year-old Paul Nsofor who repeated his feat of last year by retaining his trophy as highest goal scorer and Most Valuable Player in the U-13 category.

Nsofor said Mikel Obi, a product of the Pepsi Football Academy, is his role model. ”I like the way Mikel plays but I try to push forward whenever am with the ball even though am a supporting-striker that is why I could score goals,” the Pepsi lad said. Nsofor said he would like to play for Barcelona if he has the opportunity for international football career.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012212515915 Read more...

Rangers, Shooting Stars rekindle age-old rivalry

Rangers lnternational of Enugu in League match

The biggest football rivalry in Nigeria will be rekindled today when Rangers come up against Shooting Stars at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.

With 11 top flight division titles between them, both sides are without a doubt among the most successful clubs in the country.

Although both teams have not won the league title for over a decade (Shooting Stars won the league last in 1998 while Rangers won it last in 1984), their rivalry, dating back to the early seventies, ensures that any game involving them is more often than not a potential cracker.

At least that was the case before the nineties, before the decline in attendance figures at match venues became a cause for concern.

Back in the seventies and eighties, matches involving both sides drew large number of spectators regardless of whether the match was taking place at Enugu, Ibadan or any other part of the country.

Both sides, along with their fierce rivals Stationery Stores of Lagos, also had the best footballers in the land and it was commonplace to find the national team dominated by players from both club sides as was the case between 1976 and 1980 when Nigeria won two bronze medals (1976 and 1978) and a Cup of Nations gold (1980), and came within one game of qualifying for the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina.

While Rangers produced the likes of Emmanuel Okala, Christian Chukwu, Sylvanus Okpala and Okey Isima, as well as Adokie Amiesimaka for the national team, Shooting Stars did likewise in the form of Best Ogedegbe, Sam Ojebode, Muda Lawal, Felix Owolabi and Segun Odegbami.

Both clubs were also dominant in Africa as Shooting Stars, which were back then known as IICC Shooting Stars, won the CAF Cup Winners Cup in 1976 with Rangers following suit a year later.

In the eighties, despite the arrival on the scene of the likes of Abiola Babes, Leventis United and Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now known as Heartland), both sides still remained big crowd pullers as the likes of Rangers’ Ifeanyi Onyedika, and Jude Agada, along with Shooting Stars’ Taiwo Ogunjobi, Rashidi Yekini and Wole Odegbami took over from the aging stars in maintaining the rivalry between Enugu and Ibadan.

But even with the low interest shown by fans with regards to the domestic game from the outset of the nineties, fans still longed for matches involving both sides. And that remains the case today as both sides get set to turn the lush green artificial playing surface of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium into a battle field in what is undoubtedly the star match of the weekend.

Memory lane

“There is no match bigger than this as far as true Rangers fans are concerned. Playing against Shooting Stars and beating them is one of the high points of the season for true fans of Rangers,” said Okala who was Rangers’ undisputed first choice goalkeeper between 1972 and 1983.

“Back in our days, everyone in Enugu, in the days leading up to the match, would have only one thing on their minds and that is how to get early to the stadium in order to secure a good position from which they can watch the match,” he recalled.

“But we are talking about things that happened many years ago, things that today’s players and some of the younger fans will not understand,” added the Rangers legend who insists he will be at the stadium to watch his darling side.

For his part, Owolabi, who played for Shooting Stars from the mid-seventies right up to 1992 when he led the Ibadan side to victory at the maiden edition of the CAF Confederations Cup, won’t be in Enugu to cheer up the Stars but hopes the game will live up to its billing as the star match of the week especially as it has the potential to reawaken the interest of Nigerians in the domestic league.

“For those of us who have for years been clamouring for the improvement of the league this is the kind of match we feel can do that for us,” said Owolabi.

“There’s a whole lot of history behind it and if the fans come out as expected it will be a great game especially if the players know the history of the rivalry and how important this game is to fans of both clubs.” In the past, especially in the years following the civil war, both clubs were regional in nature, with Shooting Stars representing the Yoruba dominated western part of Nigeria while Rangers represented the interest of the Ibo dominated east.

Recent history

So rare was it to find player transfers between both sides. But that is no longer the case as there have been numerous cases of players switching from one to the other. The most recent case is that of Segun Oluwaniyi who left Rangers three seasons ago to team up with his hometown club. Last weekend, Oluwaniyi was on the bench when Shooting Stars defeated Plateau United 2-1 in Ibadan in what was his first appearance of the season for the Oluyole Warriors, but sources within the camp of the Ibadan side suggest that he will likely start against the Flying Antelopes.

He is nevertheless relishing the prospect of returning to a place he regards as his “second home”.

“Enugu is my second home as I spent so many years there playing for Rangers,” said Oluwaniyi. “I love the people and so many of them love me. But on Sunday, all that will be cast aside as all me and my teammates will be after are the points we need to climb up the table.” They will however be up against a side that has scored more goals than any other side in the league.

The Flying Antelopes have scored 13 goals so far this season but all have come from just three matches played at the Nnamdi Azikiwe. First to feel the wrath of Rangers were Lobi Stars (3-2) before Ocean Boys (5-2) and Zamfara United (5-1) followed suit.

If Shooting Stars continue with their recent poor form away from home, a form that has seen them lose their last two away matches to Enyimba and Kano Pillars, they may end up like the other teams that have been to Enugu this season.

Read more...

League sponsorship: Baribote slams NPL

A member of the Nigeria Premier League board, Victor Baribote, has described the NPL sponsorship bid process as illegal.

He said there was a judicial pronouncement nullifying the election of Davidson Owumi as Chairman of the NPL board and any transaction made by the body should be considered illegal.

Baribote said it became necessary to alert corporate organisations with interest in the league sponsorship of the dangers of reaching an agreement with the NPL in spite on the ruling of an arbitration panel headed by Professor Akin Ibidapo-Obe.

He said, “It is also well known to all that the matter between us has long been settled in my favour by the Nigeria Football Federation Arbitration Panel.

”The panel ruled that Owumi is not eligible to contest the NPL election and thus stands disqualified as NPL Chairman. It implies that any sponsorship deal sealed under the NPL leadership of Owumi is null and void. This is because Article 16 of the NPL Statutes clearly states that the Board shall be headed by a Chairman duly elected in accordance with Article 12 and 13 of the NPL Statutes.

“As far as the NPL is concerned, the bidding process for the title sponsorship shall properly commence after the NFF has implemented the judicial pronouncement of the Arbitration Panel headed by Professor Ibidapo-Obe which directed Owumi to vacate the NPL Chairman‘s office. Until the NFF has statutorily resolved this issue, no company should enter into any commercial relationship with the NPL.”

Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012200545078 Read more...

Kano Pillars in historic chase

Kano Pillars players block their Union Bank opponent during a DSTV Basketball Premier League match at the National Stadium in Lagos recently

Nigeria’s only surviving team at the ongoing 25th edition of the Africa Champions Cup for men taking place in Cotonou, Benin Republic, Kano Pillars, say they are looking beyond today’s quarter final clash with Cameroonian side, Condor Basketball Club.

No Nigerian team has ever played in the finals of the continent’s biggest club championships. However, Kano Pillars, who are the champions from Nigeria and also Zone 3 champions, hope to make history by first winning today’s’ tie and making progress in the competition. Pillars and Nigeria senior national team guard, Abubakar Usman, said the real battle for the soul of the African title just began with the quarter-final fixtures.

Team charge

Usman charged his teammates to go all out against the Cameroonians who proved book-makers wrong last Sunday to end the invincibility of the defending champion, Primeiro de Agosto Basketball Club. He declined to comment on the strength of their Cameroonian opponents, and is optimistic that Pillars would be able to do the job of getting past them. He held that Pillars always respect every opponent but would approach the game with all seriousness from the jump-ball to the buzzer. “We are happy with the quarter-finals pairing and the game will be treated with all seriousness as we cannot afford to drop the game at this stage of the competition, which is about the most important aspect of any competition because the loser never get another opportunity to right the wrongs committed,” he said. “Though we respect Condor like every other team, especially when they are the only side to have defeated Primeiro de Agosto in the last three years of the Africa Champions Cup, that alone is enough morale booster for them but we shall do everything possible to stop them on Friday. Our team is made up of tested players who know what it takes to play a team like Condor and our bench knows what to do at every given time as we match on to the African title.”

Fine run

Pillars were invincible in the first round where they not only topped their group but also maintained a hundred percent record a feat no other team achieved. Condor beat another Nigerian side, Royal Hoopers Basketball Club on Wednesday in both sides’ last Group-B game by 60-49 points. Other quarter-finals pairings billed for today pitches Inter-Club against AS Sale, while Manga play defending champion, Primeiro de Agosto. ASB Mazembe will battle Maxaquene in the last quarter-final pairing at.

Source:234next.com

Read more...