Nasarawa United moved to 9th place on the Nigeria Professional Football League table with a comfortable 2-0 win over Naze Millionaires, Heartland FC, at their temporary shelter at the New Jos Stadium, Plateau State on Wednesday.
Still basking in the euphoria of last Sunday’s victory over visiting Shooting Stars, the Governor A.A. Sule wards began the onslaught on their eastern guests when Chinedu Ohanachom turned against his former Club after being picked up by a beautiful pass from Adamu Hassan to open scoring in the 9th minute.
Not just done yet, the Solid Miners who seem to be adapting quickly to their new-found Jos home pressed further to double the scoreline but Chinedu Ohanachom’s acrobatic effort flipped inches wide in the 19th minute.
Shortly after that, Heartland turned defence to attack and thought they had leveled score but Chibuko Uchechukwu’s goal was flagged offside.
Though goalkeeper, Danlami Umar, was forced out of his territory on few occasions, but the defensive quartet of Abubakar Abdullahi, Victor Collins, Manga Mohammed and Ini Edem made penetration pretty difficult for the Naze Millionaires, as the Solid Miners led by a lone goal heading into the break.
Seven minutes into the restart, King Osanga skidded past the hurdles before unleashing a shot but lacked the power behind it to skip the grip of former United’s goalkeeper, Femi Thomas.
Ini Edem recovered fastly to halt a dangerous move by the visitors’ Chibuko Uchechukwu before Aliyu Abdullahi’s long range effort was curtailed by Femi Thomas who was the busier of the two goalkeepers.
Heartland’s resistance was again breached in the 73rd minute as right full-back, Abubakar Abdullahi, registered his third goal of the campaign with a beautiful solo effort that started outside the box to give United a 2-0 cushion.
After introducing some fresh legs, Nentaka Bangs who took over from Chinedu Ohanachom was the fans’ delight as he continued to pile pressure on the visitors’ territory with his mazy run down the flank and witty skills, pulling the trigger in the additional minute after regulation time but his shot took a deflection.
2-0 was the final score as United continue to navigate their way up the league ladder with 28 points while Heartland remain rooted down the table on 20th position with 20 points.
The Solid Miners will next get on the road for a date with Gombe United at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe State, on Sunday, 10th April, 2022, by 4pm.
POST-MATCH REACTIONS
Coach Bala Nikyu(NAS) : “Yeah, I have good records against Heartland and this dates back to 2007 when I was coach of Wikki Tourists FC of Bauchi when I defeated them at home and drew against them at their home.
“Coming back to Nasarawa United, I defeated them last season, home and away, last season, while we have amassed four points from them this season, which is good for us.
“It’s just unfortunate that we faced some trials during the first stanza of the league, and this takes someone with faith and hard work to recover and get better.
“With the double victories we have gotten in four days, we have now moved up the ladder, and we will continue to do everything to move higher.
“Jos is my home. I coached Plateau United here in 2008, and before I left the team, I left my positive foot prints.
“No regrets coming to play our home matches here as results are favouring us.
“As for featuring young players in my team(Nentaka Bangs to be precise), if you have been following my coaching system right from 1991, I used to be the Nation’s developmental and youth teams, even the last set of Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidera Eze, and others, where I propelled the team to win the Barclays Premier League U-15 tournament in 2010 in London, United Kingdom, you would discover that I believe in nurturing a player to stardom and that has been my pattern of coaching – building confidence in younger players and nurturing them into super stars.
“Using Nentaka Bangs in a big game with so much tension doesn’t scare me because I feel I have done the needful and I know he won’t disappoint.
“I am happy he didn’t disappoint in his second game for the Solid Miners.
” I hope he continues this way.”
Nentaka Bangs(NAS/NPFL Youngster Player): “I feel really happy to play for Nasarawa United in the top-flight League in Nigeria.
“I thank the Coach for believing in me, despite my stature and age(I will be sixteen by April 22 this year). I will forever be grateful for this opportunity.
“I am really excited to play in front of my father for the very first time since I started my professional career and before those I have lived with here in Jos.
“I feel excited to play before the home fans.
“I am confident even in front of opposition players who are way bigger than me because since from childhood, I have played against bigger players, and I have no fear about meeting them.
“I have my dreams and aspirations to play in a big team in one of the top-most leagues in the world, and I hope this can be attained.
“My role model in football is Ousmane Dembele of Barcelona in Spain.”
