Remo Stars of Ikenne’s coach, Daniel Ogunmodede has expressed some level of sympathy for Sunshine Stars of Akure, and confessed that his side were lucky to defeat them 2-1 last weekend, sports247.ng reports.
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The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) matchday 22 encounter was played in Ikenne, in spite of Sunshine Stars billed as the home side, and Ogunmodede admitted it was an unfortunate situation for the Ondo State-onwed team.
It also marked a fourth straight away win on the bounce for Remo Stars, but Ogunmode conceded that the Akure-based side deserved something better for their efforts in the pulsating fixture.
“We had a great game,” said Ogunmodede, who is also an assistant coach with the Super Eagles. “But, unfortunately, I have some pity for Sunshine, because they played in front of our crowd on our pitch, with the same mentality as us.
“The game was one we didn’t want to lose, because we knew what was at stake for us. We saw the opportunity, and we needed to take it … we just had to take it. We kept going like we wanted everything and we got the two goals that were very, very important for us.
Thereafter, they tried to fight back.”
Ogunmodede then gave thumbs up to The Owena Arsenal for putting up a good fight in the match, which he noted they even dominated for a large part, but recalled how his change in tactics saved the day for the ‘away side’ playjng at home and kept them top of the log.
He pointed out, “They fought a lot. They even dominated the midfield; which was absolutely normal for them. They had their moments, tried to keep the ball, and run at us. They had a lot of scoring chances and opportunities but we were lucky to end the first half with 2-0.
“Coming back in the second half, they still kept fighting hard, because they knew how important the game was for them. Along the line, they pulled back one goal and, at that point, we knew we had to keep the ball and win the second ball.”
He concluded with a reference to how the lessons learnt from their struggle against Sunshibe Stars will help Kunle Soname’s team withstand pressure from other rivals in the NPFL title race, even as they get set to tango former champs, Kano Pillars in their next game.
“They were winning most of the second ball in the first half. We noticed it, and we adjusted in the second half. That is one big lesson we learnt ahead of our next match against Kano Pillars, and we will go into it with full force. We are going there to get maximum points. Nothing less,” Ogunmodede boasted.
