Bayelsa United of Yenagoa coach, Isah Ladan Bosso on Sunday heaved a sigh of relief and gave thanks to God that his side were able to keep their spot in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) with a 2-1 win over one of his former clubs, El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri.
Sports247 gathered that Sunday’s matchday 35 home win kept The Harmony Boys ninth on the NPFL log with 49 points, while El-Kanemi are just one rung ahead of Heartland of Owerri, who are the fist team in the top-flight league’s relegation zone.
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While El-Kanemi will continue being anxious with their last three matches of the campaign, as they join Heartland, Akwa United of Uyo, Sunshine Stars of Akure and Lobi Stars of Makurdi in the war against relegation, Bosso is happy that Bayelsa United are already assured of being in the NPFL come next season.
However, the junior national team, Flying Eagles’ former handler and current president of Nigerian Football Coaches Association (NFCA) admitted that Sunday’s victory was not easy to get against their very resilient visitors.
Bosso disclosed: “We expected that there was going to be a good fight from them, and we planned for it. That’s why the players that came from the bench were able to give us the result. However, we still have to appreciate the resilience of the opponents.
“At the same time, I appreciate the efforts of my boys. Though they did not play in the second half what they they did in the first half, the changes we made helped us get an impact.”
The lanky tactician also took a closer look at the run of play, in which either side scored through penalty kicks, and acknowledged how his substitutions ultimately earned Bayelsa United the crucial winning goal pretty late in the encounter at Samson Yebowei Siasia Stadium in Bayelsa State’s capital.
Bosso further noted, “Two of the goals were interesting … penalty against us, penalty against them. That’s a balance. Later on, the goal that we scored to win the match could not be cancelled, because it was clinical. It was clinically executed through a lot of pressure from my boys. We continued to press, and we finally got the winning goal.”
He concluded by pointing out that the hosts’ goal came in the knick of time and too late for El-Ka to have any hope of staging a comeback for a draw, leaving Bayelsa United picking up maximum points and gaining an assurance of being there next season in the NPFL.
“At the time we got that goal, there was no way they could balance the game again. The only thing to do was maintain the line of defence. On our part, we appreciate God with how we were able to seal up our position in the premier league for next season,” Bosso rejoiced.
