FC Ifeanyi Ubah defeated Ebonyi United by a goal to nil, courtesy of a stoppage-time goal scored by Bello Koformata.
The Anambra Warriors who came into the game as favourites
were given a tough resistance by their opponents who were fearless
throughout the game.
The match which was played on a very poor Dan Anyiam pitch,
had little clear cut chances in the 1st half with the first real chance
coming at the 15th minute when Oluchukwu Nwosu's well-whipped cross was
headed wide by Nico Dao.
This was followed by a couple of half chances by the Anambra Warriors while enjoying plenty of possession.
However, the possession didn’t count in the 1st half as it ended goalless at half time.
The second half saw the introduction of three players
within the 1st ten minutes, Seka Pascal, Bello Koformata, and Madabuchi
Okereke.
The trio made their presence felt as the created a host of
chances between them with Okereke Maduabuchi coming closest in the 63rd
minute as he forced a double save from the Ebonyi United goalkeeper.
With two minutes of added time given and just as it looked
like the match was heading to a penalty shootout, substitute Bello
Koformata blasted into the net an inch-perfect cross from Enu Wilson to
break the hearts of the Ebonyi United players and send FC Ifeanyi Ubah
through to the next round.
Speaking after the game, Technical Adviser of FC Ifeanyi
Ubah, Mitko Dobrev admitted that his team’s performance was not the best
but praised his boys for grinding out the needed result. "It's not easy
to play such a match after playing 19 matches of the NPFL, and also
playing 4 matches in the last ten days. You could see our boys
played with a lot of fatigue but I am proud that they were still able to
get the result", Dobrev said.
Dobrev went on to say that the players will rest properly during the break and come back better for the 2nd stanza of the season. "Now, we will rest properly and then come back stronger for the games against Niger Tornadoes and Nasarawa United. Our objective still remains the top three, so as to pick up a continental ticket", Dobrev concluded.
