Niger Tornadoes Football Club Minna were forced to a goalless draw by the visiting Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi in an NPFL Match-Day 6 North Central Derby.
The Ikon Allah Boys did everything but forgot their scoring boots as the visitors ran away with a point in what was a nail biting, high tempo 90 minutes of football at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.
Tornadoes were all over the visitors in an attempt to grab an early goal, but ill-luck and wastefulness in front of goal denied the hosts, as no single chance was taken amongst a dozen that was created in the first half.
Niger Tornadoes introduced Jonas Emmanuel in the second half, in a bid to grab a goal and kill off the game, but all efforts proved abortive.
The hosts, thrice, appealed for a penalty when a ball was clearly handled in the box by the visiting team’s defender and Munir Idris was strangled in the box, but all calls went into deaf ears, as the arbiters thought otherwise.
The duo of Joseph Atule and experienced Abba Umar for Lobi Stars caused problems for Tornadoes backline, but were allowed no chance to wreck any havoc.
COACH BALA’S ASSESSMENT OF THE GAME POST-MATCH:
“Before the match we knew it’s going to be a tough one, playing against a good side like Lobi Stars, even though we have also prepared very well for the match”.
“I’m not happy at the end of the game due our inability to utilize our scoring chances. We created a lot of chances, especially in the first half but he misses affected the scoreline otherwise we should have picked our three points”.
Nevertheless we are grateful to God we didn’t lose the match and got a point, we will continue to from there”.
