Lobi Stars Football Club put up an excellent and image redeeming performance by beating visiting Delta Force Football Club 4-0 on Sunday.
The Pride of Benue came into the game smoking and ready to go for the kill as the opponents conceded a first-minute corner kick.
In the second minute, Alimi Sikiru broke loose on the left side but goalkeeper Orire Lukman was quick enough to intercept what would have been the first goal for Lobi Stars.
It was a harvest of misses upon misses as Lobi Stars mounted pressure to get an opener until the 30th minute when the repeated efforts of the Stars paid off through the dashing right side run and accurate delivery of Samad Kadiri for Tiza Samuel to head home goal number one for Stars.
Lobi Stars pressed on with clinical passes and good coordination in front of goal with Sikiru, Kadiri, Tiza, Achiv, Udeagha with the constant support of Lazarus on the right, but the goal tally remained constant as misses ensued until the referee sounded his whistle for the end of the first half.
A better looking and venon spitting Lobi Stars resumed the second half constantly making mincemeat of the opponents’ defence with fireworks in front of the goal. In the 52nd minute, substitute Abdulkareem Mumini who took over from Samad Kadiri dazzled the defence of Delta Force and thundered across in what had actually looked half a goal but the finishing line of Lobi Stars failed to convert the begging chance.
In the 67th minute, Alimi Sikiru’s effort displaced a defective Delta Force defender off the ball and delivered an accurate cross to Abdulkareem Mumini who placed wide of the goal. Sikiru was on song again one minute later, this time he broke free and thundered home a 20-metre blinder that left Orire without any answer.
Alimi Sikiru again cashed in on a defensive blunder of the Deltans in the 72nd minute and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper but it was off target. Alimi set up a through pass behind the defence of Delta Force for Abdulkareem Mumini whose left foot bullet caught the Delta Force goalkeeper napping for the third goal for Lobi Stars.
83 minutes extent of play saw Chinedu Udeagha converting substitute Abdulkareem Mumini’s well-placed assist.
