By Tosin Omojola
Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote, admitted that his team could have secured all points against El-Kanemi Warriors but for the inability to manage their two-goal lead.
The coach stated this in his post-match interview, after the Oluyole Warriors were held to a 2-2 draw by their host in a Matchday 31 encounter in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) at the El-Kanemi Warriors Stadium, Maiduguri on Thursday.
Ogunbote’s men raced into a two-goal lead through Monday Gideon and Sodiq Ibrahim before halftime but could not hold off their hosts who powered back into the contest through a 50th-minute goal from Barnabas Daniel and Suleiman Alabi on 78 minutes.
“We give glory to God for the one point secured on the road, but as far as I am concerned, this is two points lost for the team.
“We didn’t manage the lead, we surrendered it, definitely, and we paid a big price for it,” Ogunbote said.
Asked whether the weather affected his team, The Oracle, as the coach is fondly called, played down that factor and hinged their losing two points from winning position to poor game management.
“Well, if you want to talk about the weather, the second half was a bit better. It wasn’t as a result of the weather, but we were just unable to manage the lead,” he said.
On the effect of Thursday’s result on his team’s target for the season, the 3SC chief tactician said:
“We have seven games to determine the dream, so let’s see what we will get out of it”.