Gangling Ukeyima Akombo headed in a 32 minutes goal to give Shooting Stars FC a slim 1-0 win against Gateway FC yesterday, 6th Wednesday in a crucial South West derby of the Nigerian National league match day 8.
Both teams had started on a fast tempo with a balanced midfield play as expected, but it was for Gateway FC to force a daring save from Goalkeeper Kazeem Yekeen in the early minutes of the encounter.
Afterwards, Shooting Stars had a goal disallowed after a closely knitted ball walks among Abbey Benson, Alaba Osawe and Akombo Ukeyima, before the AR1 overruled.
However, the curtain raizer came off a free kick on 32 minutes. Impressive Abbey Benson had worked with the duo of Ayobami Junior and Fatai Gbadamosi to get the ball and won a free kick which sleeky Nurudeen Sanni played from the right.
He didn’t fail to get it to towering Akombo Ukeyima to head into the right hand of Gateway goalie.
The scoreline remains 1-0 even with some changes from both teams in the second half despite some anxious moments in vital areas.
Although, Gateway FC scored also what could have been an equalizer but the AR1 sighted an offside positional play midway into the second half.
In a post match reaction, Coach Edith Agoye described the tie as a balanced one with a good final result.
” I thank God for the victory, we were made to work hard for it, but I must commend Gateway FC for their fighting spirit”, Agoye concludes.
His counterpart from Gateway FC, Hakeem Busari then summed it up.
“It was indeed an interesting derby but Shooting Stars won. We shall return home and work on lapses noticed”.
By this result, Shooting Stars are now with 13 points from 6 games, scoring eight goals and conceding one to be second on the log behind Bendel Insurance.
Benin Arsenals defeat J’Atete 1-0 to garner 14 points from seven games.
