An encounter between the two oldest club rivals in Nigeria, 3SC of Ibadan and Rangers International F.C of Enugu ended on an even note as the ‘Flying Antelopes’ were forced to a 1-1 draw by the ‘Oluyole Warriors’ in a matchday 16, NPFL 2021/2022 fixture.
Youthful, Ikechukwu Eboko evaded a sea of tackling legs to let fly a left-footed shot that beat Charles Tembe in goal for the home side in added-on time of the first period after he was fed by Kenechukwu Agu.
The goal did come against the run of play as the visitors had been on the back foot with the quartet of Tope Olusesi, Bala Akintunde, David Chimezie, and Olawale Doyeni digging deep to contain the host’s frontmen led by Sunday Faleye and Chinedu Enuademu.
Twelve minutes into the second period, Chinedu Enuademu reacted well as some slack defending gave him enough room to run onto an Akilu Mohammed’s defense splitting pass to draw the home side level and send the near-capacity filled Lekan Salami stadium into wild jubilation.
Efforts by coaches of both teams to get the maximum points at stake failed to see the light of the day despite injecting fresh legs as the encounter ended on an even note.
Coach Abdul Maikaba of Rangers said after the fixture, “It was a good game that we should have won but my players panicked a bit and conceded the equalizer. It would have been worse for us but for the timely substitutions made to contain the opponents. We keep working on the team and hopefully, we shall soon get back to winning ways.”
With the result, Rangers drop to the 5th position with 25 points from 16 matches while Rivers United continues to set the pace with 35 points from the same number of matches.
Rangers will next play Gombe United in a matchday 17 encounter at their adopted home ground of F.C Ifeanyi Ubah Stadium, Nnewi on Saturday, March 5, 2022.
RANGERS TEAM: Seidu Mutawakilu, Tope Olusesi (Ifeanyi Nweke -70th Min.), Bala Akintunde (Ernest Governor -70th Min.), David Chimezie, Olawale Doyeni, Charles Tiesso, Shedrack Asiegbu (Chukwuebuka Okorie -53rd Min.), Ikechukwu Eboko (Christian Nnaji -53rd Min.), Kenechukwu Agu, Elijah Ani (Emeka Obiora -88th Min.), Chidiebere Nwobodo. SUBS NOT USED: Nana Bonsu, Uche John, Samuel Pam, Christian Madu.
