The green grass of the Godswill Akpabio stadium, the Nest of Champions saw off the battle for three points between Dakkada FC and Heartland of Owerri in the match day 24 of the NPFL with the home team, having not won in 6 games and the guests coming from a home defeat to Rivers United.
From the first blast of whistle, the encounter was a well contested affair, with lots of tactical battle between head coaches, Caleb Esu and Fidelis Ilechukwu as the on-field battle was unrelenting. Nothing separated both sides in the first 45 minutes as both teams found it difficult to break each other as the half ended goalless.
Dakkada fc intensified things in the start of the second half as they tried to get the breakthrough but Heartland’s defense controlled by Super Eagles goal keeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa stood firm. The chosen ones piled up the pressure with Femi Ajayi firing wide from close range and Promise Wisdom almost getting the opener but for an Ezenwa near post save late on in the game.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 88th minute by Duke Oshimaga after lovely inter-change of passes between Promise Wisdom and Femi Ajayi broke the Heartland defense as the latter made the assist. Heartland rallied back for an equalizer but time was against them as the referee blew the final whistle to end the game.
Man of the match
Undoubtedly, the man of the match will be the man that got the hard earned goal for the team. Duke Oshimaga who scored in the 88th minute and was involved in all of the team’s attack gave his side some hope and motivation after a disappointing 6 weeks of outing. Duke also now has 2 goals for the season with both goals scored in Uyo.
What’s next?
Basking in Euphoria of the victory, the Chosen ones will be on the road in next week’s round of fixtures to face FC Ifeanyi Ubah while the heart broken Heartland FC will be looking to bounce back against Lobi Stars in Okigwe, Imo State.
