Coach Obi Ogbala of Heartland Queens is taking stock of his side’s losses in their first two matches of the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) new season and declared that they will turn the tide around in their next game.
Sports247 reports that their next match will be on Wednesday at home in a south-east derby against Abia Angels of Umuahia, ahead of which Coach Ogbala is exuding confidence for a better performance by his players.
He admitted it was quite painful losing 2-1 at home to Edo Queens of Benin City this past midweek, but gave his lasses a pat on the back for what he described as a gallant battle versus last season’s winners.
Ogbala said, “Losing is not good, but I have to praise the girls. They put up a good fight against the defending champions. We know them very well, having met them before they became champions in the Super-6.
We also played them in Betsy Obaseki Cup, and we saw what happened. So, we came back, and we put in this effort. I know we lost but then, I cannot take it away from my girls.”
Ogbala then acknowledged the words of Edo Queens’ coach, Moses Aduku, who hailed Heartland’s fighting spirit during the midweek clash at Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri, and stressed that his team will get better after learning huge lessons in their second straight loss of the NWFL’s 2025 season.
Ogbala added, “Their coach said we made things difficult for him, more especially at the start of the game; but a momentary loss of concentration affected us. We lost, but it was a good one.
We were in the Super-6 like them. We saw it through, and we made them the champions. Had it been that we drew with Rivers Angels or lost to them, they would have been champions, not Edo Queens.
“Fine, we have to respect them. We cannot underrate them, but that does not mean my girls caved in due to too much respect for the opponents. No!”
He then turned his attention on next week’s fixture at the same venue and enthused that his players would have learnt a lot from their first two games of the new campaign, hence his assurance that Owerri football fans will see an improved performance by Heartland Queens on Wednesday.
“For our next match, we are going to start work and learn from our mistakes of this game. We’ll put things right and see how we can take that game on Wednesday.
It’s going to be a good game, I promise. The girls have learnt from their mistakes. We’ll put the corrections on them, and we’ll give a good fight in the next match,” Ogbala assured.
