By Emmanuel Chinedu
Enyimba striker Ifeanyi Ihemekwele finally scored his first goal of the EUROMATCH-NPFL season in his first start at home in 18 months following a long injury layoff.
Ihemekwele made a league return in the 0-1 loss at home to Inter Lagos as a substitute and was handed his first home start by Enyimba head coach Emmanuel Deutsch against visiting Shooting Stars on Wednesday.
Prior to Wednesday’s start, Ihemekwele started at Kano Pillars where they got a point in a goalless draw.
The striker who recently recovered from a serious ankle injury since February 2025 scored Enyimba’s fourth goal in their 4-2 win over Shooting Stars and played 70 minutes before he was replaced by Johna James.
Ihemekwele’s first home start in over year also coincided with Enyimba’s first win of the season after the team’s wobbly start to the campaign that saw them lose their first four matches to Niger Tornadoes, Doma United, Inter Lagos and Sporting Lagos.
The Aba-born striker was however not the only player who influenced things in Enyimba’s first win of the season.
Richard Ezinna, Damian Chibueze Ezeifule and Idris Abubakar accounted for the other goals in the match.
Mustapha Adams Agba’a and Johnmark Aule scored for Shooting Stars late in the game to end 4-2.
Enyimba assistant coach, Okechukwu Ejeh was full of praise for Ihemekwele and his teammates but cautioned that the team was still a work in progress considering their defensive frailties.
”Yes, it is a really good performance by the boys, I think this victory was needed and we were very clinical and it helped us in scoring all the four chances we got.
”Even against Inter Lagos and Sporting Lagos in our last two home matches, we were unable to convert the chances which also caused us in those games, but it is a learning process and we will continue working hard especially defensively to stop conceding cheap goals. But I’m proud of how we played in the game and we do expect to see more against Plateau United this Sunday,” Ejeh said.