18th March, 2012
Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi, Sunday evening defeated Dolphins of Port Harcourt 2-0 in a week 15 Nigeria Premier League, NPL, match at Katsina-Ala Stadium in Benue State.
The Suswan Boys, as Lobi are fondly called, gave a good account of themselves by gaining total control of the match from the blast of the whistle.
Striker Lazarus Chukwu put the hosts ahead when he scored the first goal in the 27th minute of the first half.
David Tyavkase, who returned to Lobi after starring for Enyimba of Aba for some years, sealed victory for the hosts by scoring the winner on the dot of 90th minute.
Manager of Lobi, Domnic Iorfa, while reacting to the victory praised the referee for doing a good job.
“You can see that the referee was totally in charge of today’s officiating. He gave a level playing ground to both clubs and I think the better side won. I’m happy about the result,” Iorfa said.
On his part, Dolphins Coach, Stanley Eguma, attributed his side’s loss to the bad condition of the pitch in Katsina-Ala.
“Everybody can testify to the fact that the pitch is very bumpy and prevented the players from playing free flowing football. I wonder why the NPL approve of a pitch like this to host league games,” Eguma said.
By Bimbo Ajayi, Katsina-Ala