Captain of the side, Noah Salaudeen, produced a splendid freekick goal to earn Buruj Sports Academy a well deserved 1-1 draw against Handsworth FC in a friendly game played at Araromi Youth Development Center, Gbagada, on Wednesday evening.
The keenly contested game was part of the trial matches being organised to prepare the team for their next foreign trip and it was Handsworth Boys who struck first minutes after the resumption of the second stanza after following the first half which ended goalless.
Buruj Boys responded but the combination of poor marksmanship and lack of composure in front of goal by the attackers led by new boy Al-Amin Seriki cost them until they were awarded a direct freekick from about 25yards from goal in the 75th minute.
The goal rattled their more matured opponents which ensured that the closing stages of the game was fire-for-fire but none of the two sides could produce the much-coveted winning goal till the final whistle.
While reacting on the performance of the boys, the CEO of the academy Salaudeen Waheed expressed satisfaction over what he described as the level of improvement in the quality of performance of some of the players on parade but was quick to order the technical crew to work on some noticeable lapses in their collective display.
He particularly singled out kid star Chidera Amuji who was recently converted to a left-back for praise, saying that the team is beginning to take shape well ahead of time after a slow start to the buildup.
“It was a good game and I was highly impressed with some individual displays. All we need to do now is to gel the boys to play as a team so that they will be able to take their chances. We lost so many scoring chances in this game and the technical crew will work on the players’ positioning and awareness,” he began.
“One boy that continues to impress me is Chidera Amuji now playing from the left-back position. He is improving with each passing day and the more he continues his adaptation to the new role and system, the better for the entire team,” he enthused.
