Go Round FC left the pitch at the Sports Complex in Maiduguri with a point after the encounter against El-Kanemi ended 2-2 but it was not so rosy after the referees sounded the final whistle. The mayhem that ensued after the game was not for the faint of heart as fans of the home side […]
via Go Round FC Survive The Terror Of Maiduguri — finixsportsblog
A 44th minute strike by Emem Eduok was enough to take Dolphins to the quarter finals of the Federation Cup.
A defence splitting pass from Ebube Okpokwu saw Emem outrun his marker to slot behind onrushing goalkeeper, David Obiozor in the Elkanemi goal.
Dolphins’ Togolese defender, Joseph Douhadji was injured early and was replaced with Emmanuel Olowo in the 12th minute.
Dolphins could have gone two up mid way in the 2nd half when Emem Eduok ran his marker ragged down the right flank and crossed in for Bolaji Sarkin who failed to connect.
Elkanemi had a shout for a penalty late in the game when substitute Hope Fiberseima seemed to have handled the ball in the box but the center referee, Jerry Akure from Benue State would have none of it.
After the game, head coach of ElKanemi, Salisu Yusuf said he would not think much of the penalty call.
“We thought it was a penalty but the referee said it wasn’t so there is nothing we can do about it,” Yusuf said.
“It’s normal in football. They had a chance and scored while we made one wrong calculation and they capitalized on it. We will just concentrate on what is left of the league.”
Dolphins head coach, Stanley Eguma on his part called it a hard earned victory for his side.
“We had to work over capacity to get victory today. It is a sign of good things to come and we believe that we can go on to win the trophy like we have done in the past,” Eguma said.
Dolphins will next play Lobi Stars in the quarter finals on Wednesday.
A new date of Wednesday, March 26 has been announced for the postponed Match Day 2 fixture between El-Kanemi Warriors and Abia Warriors.
The League Management Company (LMC) announced that the match will be played at the Kano Pillars Stadium in Kano which will now host home fixtures of the Maiduguri-based side until further notice.
Salihu Abubakar, the Chief Operating Officer of LMC disclosed this and said “in the light of developments in Maiduguri and adjoining cities, we had to suspend all fixtures in the town and have moved their home fixtures for now to Kano”.
The match will kick-off at 4.15pm local time. Meanwhile, in Match Day 2 fixtures, Heartland will host Sharks in Owerri in a Friday Star Match while the following day, Crown FC will play home to Dolphins FC, FC Taraba will receive El-Kanemi Warriors in Jalingo and Rangers International are hosts to Kano Pillars.
In Uyo, Akwa United will clash with Kaduna United and in Katsina Ala, it is Lobi Stars versus Gombe United. Also on Wednesday, March 26, Warri Wolves are home to Enyimba International while Bayelsa United are home to Nasarawa United.
In a related development, host broadcasters of the Glo Premier League, SuperSport has said the repeat broadcast of the match between Kano Pillars and Sunshine Stars will start airing from 00.50 am on SuperSport Select and SuperSport Select Go.
It will also be aired on Tuesday at 2pm and 1am on SuperSport 9 while on Wednesday, it will be broadcast at 8am and 00.45am on SuperSport Select and SuperSport Select Go.
The broadcast schedule will continue on Thursday, March 20 on SuperSport 9 at 4.50pm and 00.50am while on Friday, the final repeat broadcast will be at 11.00am and 00.50am on SuperSport 9.
Abia Warriors Football Club of Umuahia has renewed its appeal on the League Management Company (LMC) to relocate its week 2 Glo Premier League encounter with El-Kanemi Warriors from Maiduguri to another venue for security reasons.
In a Save-Our-Soul (SOS) letter signed by the Secretary of Abia Warriors FC, Mr. Oliver Ndife and sent to the Chief Operating Officer,
of LMC, Salihu Abubakar, Abia Warriors referred to its earlier correspondence on the matter which has not received an answer and
urged the LMC to relocate the week 2 encounter in order to secure the lives of officials and players who would attend the game.
“Our position on this matter is borne out of pressure from family and friends of our players and officials who are refusing to let their
loved ones travel for the match for fear of being attacked enroute to the venue of the match”, the letter read in part. It continued, “even
though it could be argued that security would be provided in Maiduguri town, our club’s fear is, what happens in transit, say between Abuja and Maiduguri”.
The club recalled the renewed killings of innocent people in the state in recent times, including the killing of several football fans at a
viewing centre in the Ajilari area of the state as well as the audacious invasion of a village in Maiduguri by members of a dreaded
sect in military camouflage in which more than 39 people who were preparing for prayers were gruesomely murdered.
The club therefore urged the LMC to hasten action and relocate the week 2 action from Maiduguri to a venue where the safety of players and officials will be guaranteed.
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