Kufre Ebong scored what is now an early contender for the best goal of the season as Dakkada rallied from behind to beat Wikki Tourists in Group-B of the NPFL in front of a sellout crowd at the Nest of Champions, Uyo, Wednesday.
Poor zonal marking in the Dakkada defence allowed Ismail Maiyaki, who was clearly unmarked, reach at the end of captain Idris Guda’s low corner to flick in his diving header at goalkeeper Loveday Anugbuo’s near post and put the visitors ahead just inside the first two minutes of kick-off.
Having taken the lead Tourists resorted to sitting deep and relying on counter attacks but were made to rue that decision in the thirtieth minute by Kufre Ebong who scored an absolute peach of a goal.
The attacker was sent on his way by a looping pass from Ifeanyi Assurance and with his back towards goal he delivered an overhead chip that looped over both the on-rushing goalkeeper Galadima Mohammed and the impeding defender Haruna Sunday and bounced harmlessly into the unguarded goal to restore parity and send spectators into raptures.
Tourists had Galadima to thank for going into the break all square although the ascendancy was with Dakkada who were guilty of fluffing many goal-scoring chances.
After the restart, there were penalty appeals from both sides all waived by the referee but that which occurred in the sixty-fifth was not to follow suit.
Nelson Ariam flipped his left arm to hit a cross inside the box in order to prevent Kufre Ebong, who was lurking behind him, from heading home at the far post which resulted in a penalty and a booking.
Ekpe, one of the best penalty takers in the division, stepped up on did his business from twelve yards to put the Chosen Ones ahead.
Tourists thought they had equalized late on after Abdulsalam’s header found its way in but the flag had correctly gone up for offside immediately after Olatunboson delivered a cross into the box with the attacker miles ahead of Dakkada’s last man.
Dakkada endured a final few moments of Wikki pressure to see out the victory, which now takes them to second, two points behind leaders Abia Warriors, in Group B and leaves Wikki second from bottom.
Dakkada will be guests to new entrants Doma United while Wikki Tourists will execute their second successive away match at the winless Bayelsa United when match day three gets underway this weekend.
