NPFL: Shooting Stars end winless run with hard-fought victory against bottom-placed Bayelsa United
Ademola Kareem’s lone goal was enough to seal all three points for Shooting Stars in a frantic Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) matchday 17 encounter against Bayelsa United at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex on 7th January, 2024.
The home side came in the encounter against Bayelsa United on the back of a six-game winless run that saw them sink into 10th position on the NPFL log. The game came off with a flying start as Ademola Kareem struck in the 11th minute to give his team the early lead.
After the early goal conceded by a poor piece of defence, the visitors upped the antè, piling a lot of pressure on the Shooting Stars’ defence. Chinedu Anozie, in goal, made a couple of saves to shut out the Bayelsa attack.
Seven minutes were added on at the end of 45 minutes due to a handful of stoppages that punctuated the game. Deep into stoppage time, there was a bizarre break as a member of the Bayelsa technical crew, who had been red-carded, refused to exit the pitch.
A few minutes into the second half, the visitors continued from where they left off in the first half as they piled pressure on the Oluyole Warriors backline. Gbenga Ogunbote made the first substitution of the game in the 63rd minute when Akpan Joshua replaced Malomo Taofeek, who was having a bad game.
Bayelsa United pulled one back in the game but the goal was rightly disallowed for offside. Shortly after in the 76th minute, the referee waved off a strong penalty call when Robert Mizo was clearly brought down in the box.
The visitors took total control of the game in the second half but lacked the cutting edge to punish the Oluyole Warriors who were largely pedestrian. 3SC held on to their slender lead to claim their first victory in six games.
When quizzed about his team’s performance, Gbenga Ogunbote spoke about the poor morale in the squad and the plan they had going into the encounter. “The truth be said, having gone six games without a win, we expect that the confidence level would have dropped. The confidence level dropped but all we just wanted was to come back to winning ways and thank God we’ve been able to get that,” he said.
Despite Sunday’s victory, Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan are currently languishing in 10th position with 22 points, 7 points away from CAF Confederations Cup places. However, it is important to note that the Oluyole Warriors have a game in hand.
Bayelsa United on the other hand stay rooted to the bottom of the log with just 14 points accrued from 17 games this season. The prosperity boy’s fortunes are not likely to change soon with the departure of Robert Mizo to Libyan side, Al Hilal Benghazi, as they will be missing a player who has scored half of their 20 league goals so far in the 2023/2024 NPFL campaign.
Up next for Shooting Stars is a trip down south to face Sporting Lagos in the south-west derby at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Onikan. Bayelsa United, on the other hand, will be welcoming Bendel Insurance to the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa.
