Stormers FC of Abeokuta are still celebrating their ability to overcome long-drawn arguments and confusion that delayed kick-off in their Nigerian National League (NNL) and win the game at home.
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It was a thrilling outing that saw The Rock City side score in the nick of time, to sink visiting Coal City FC of Enugu and ease their relegation woes in Group A of this season’s NNL campaign.
Scorer of the day’s lone goal, Salifu Haruna admitted it was a heroic performance by his side, which entered the game sitting 11th on the 12-team table and could not find their rhythm in the first half.
Aside from having to battle tooth and nail to eventually score in the second half, Haruna recalled that the match was almost abandoned when the opponents failed to present their players’ licences.
Haruna, who scored the only goal of the game, recounted: “There was a lot of confusion before the match, and the president of the club even told us we were not going to play it.
“Something like that happened in our first match of the second stanza, when we went to Uyo to play Dakkada. Just because of one player, they did not allow us to play.
“They said we must provide the player’s licence. We dressed maybe 14 to 15 players, but the one that did not have his licence could not play.
“For this match, the opponents did not even present any of their league licences. Had it been they presented 15, 14, or even 10, we would have said the others were recruited for the second stanza, but they did not even provide anyone at all.
“There was a lot of argument during the process. Our president said we would not play because they did it to us earlier.
“He reminded them that we even pleaded for the player to snap with the referee, to identify that he’s a registered player with us, but they did not agree.
“But, for this match, Coal City did not even present any licence at all. That caused a lot of waste in time and confusion, but we did not give up, because we knew what we were looking for.
“We told ourselves that we could win this match and, thank God, we won.”
He also spoke about various factors that propelled his side to victory and the personal satisfaction he derived from being the match winner.
“The encounter was good because my team did not give up. The first half ended goalless, but, in the second half, we played very well, and, thanks to God, we came out victoriously.
“I was the one that even scored the goal for my team. It means a lot to me because we did not perform well during the first stanza of the season.
“But, in this second stanza, with the recruitment’s the club management did, we are good to go.
“By God’s grace, we will leave the red zone and come up the league table,” Haruna enthused.
He and his colleagues are now looking forward to another good result this weekend when they play away to Abia Comets of Umuahia.
