Edo Queens of Benin City coach, Moses Aduku has disclosed that he was not satisfied with his side’s 2-1 win away to Heartland Queens of Owerri in a match day two fixture of the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL).
Sports247 reports that a brace of goals by Goodness Osigwe cancelled out Monica Matthew’s lone effort for the hosts at Dan Anyiam Stadium in the Imo State capital, Owerri, but Aduku stressed that his side should have done better.
The victory also meant the Benin City-based NWFL defending champions have won their first two matches of the new season, but Aduku reckoned that they would need to step up for a better show in their next fixture, which will be at home versus Remo Queens of Ikenne.
The ex-youth international midfielder based his verdict on the fact that his players recently gained lots of exposure from featuring in the CAF Women’s Champions League, which he insists should have given them an edge over Heartland.
Aduku declared, “Thank God for the victory, but it was not an easy one. Honestly, my girls played below expectation. Though we won the game, they did not play up to my expectation.
What we played in our first match is not what I saw here; but I must say the truth, the Heartland girls gave their all. They are a good side, despite the fact that they lost. They have new players in their team, but I think they are going somewhere.”
The lanky former box-to-box midfield battler then singled out one of his players for praise, but quickly interjected that he actually expected more from her and all members of the squad that almost reached the final of last year’s continental championship in Morocco.
Aduku added, “Our number seven player, Esther, was wonderful but, honestly, we were expecting more from her; because of the exposure she had in the CAF Champions League. She’s a very good player but she has some more work to do.
I also expected our continental experience to have an impact in this game, but the honest truth is that the Heartland girls came out fully. I expected it that way, though, because any team playing against Edo Queens today will give their all … but our experience still helped us out eventually.”
He concluded by stating that he will not look ahead of all their remaining games, stressing that his team will focus only on Remo Queens for now, because they must take the matches one after the other as they come.
“One game at a time. We are done with this match in Owerri. Now we’ll go back to prepare against Remo. That’s our next target,” Aduku asserted.
