3rd December, 2010
As players and officials of Dolphins Football Club landed in Minna last night ahead of tomorrow’s Nigeria Premier League match against Niger Tornadoes, the team say they are ready to consolidate their leadership position.
Dolphins ended week 4 as League leaders having won three games and lost one and are hoping to consolidate with a good result against Tornadoes.
After beating Gombe United 3-0, Dolphins Manager, Stanley Eguma, said the plan of the club now is to maintain their position at the top of the table.
“It was a good win for us against Gombe last week; a good but difficult win but we are happy that the players came through at least in the 2nd half to score those beautiful goals,†Eguma said.
“Now we have returned to the top where we would want to remain. So we are in Minna to scores goals and come back with a result. We know the venue as a difficult place to play but I want to say that our team are now doing their thing with more understanding and the sky can only be our limit as a team.†Dolphins have the best defence among the 20 teams featuring in the NPL, having conceded just a goal in four matches.
Image maker of Dolphins, China Acheru, said the reason for their solid rear is simply that the club’s defensive line have spent years playing together and are now a unit that understand themselves so much. Dolphins goalkeeper, Sunday Rotimi, has been with the club since 2006 while the captain has been a Dolphins player since 1999.
Festus Austin, the other central defender, joined the club in 2008 while Kennedy Chinwo first joined Dolphins in 2000 and then returned this season after a four year absence. Husseini Adaji is in his third season with the club.
When the team lines up to play, they have a goalkeeper, Sunday Rotimi, who has been distributing the ball to Emma Godwin for 6 years.
There is also Emma Godwin who has been pairing in central defence with Festus Austin and Husseini Adaji for three seasons now. Also in the team are players like Victor Babayaro, who is in his fifth season with Dolphins  and Owazuoke Wobo who has played with the club since 1999.
Meanwhile, Dolphins’ captain, Godwin disclosed that the work seems easy because players of the team are cooperating to ensure the club win a trophy this season. He said the spirit in camp make the captain’s work seem so easy and is optimistic they won’t let their fans down.
“We are moving forward and we have resolved to play for ourselves and for our fans who have stood behind us even in difficult moments especially we were relegated three seasons ago.â€
“We really want to win a trophy this season and return to the continent where we truly belong and with the way we are going I am sure we will achieve it,†Godwin said.
Dolphins last won a trophy at the end of the 2008/09 season when they beat Kwara United 1-0 in Abuja to win the National Division One League play-offs as they gained promotion to the Premier League.The club’s trophy count includes the Nigerian League trophy in 1997 and 2004, the FA Cup in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007, and the second division trophy in 1994 and 2002.
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