Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan profited from good defensive organisation to beat Kano Pillars 1-0 on Wednesday in a rescheduled Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match.
The victory at the Adamasingba Stadium, Ibadan gave 3SC their second successive victory at home.
Junior Ajayi acted quickly with a sublime flip over a Kano Pillars defender before firing in a canon from close range to open the scoring in the fifth minute.
The goal and a few surges upfront by 3SC were the major difference in the first half between the visitors who controlled the game and had larger possession.
But they failed to utilise the array of scoring chances they created.
Having conceded an early goal, Kano Pillars poured forward in co-ordinated fashion but the hosts’ backline of Osawe Alabi, former youth international Yinka Adedeji and Sadiq Suraj were Pillars’ stumbling block.
The best chance for Kano Pillars fell on the path of Adamu Hassan, who wasted the effort, shooting narrowly off the target.
Abdulazeez Shoeo also kept on tormenting 3SC from the right flank, constantly evading his marker but also failing to link up with his teammates upfront.
After half an hour of play, 3SC had about nine men behind the ball in an effort to protect their lead.
They should have paid for the defensive option adopted had Pillars’ played with patience and were not wasteful.
After constantly being felled by 3SC tall defenders, pint-size Shoeo was showing signs of weakness, which affected Pillars fluency upfront.
He also had a penalty appeal turned down by the referee.
The second half began from where both teams ended the first half, and 3SC were getting back into the game after frustrating Kano Pillars attack.
Olukokun Olaitan and James Moses would have sealed victory for 3SC, but their efforts were inaccurate.
Medical treatment and deliberate time-wasting took away the glamour of the match in the closing minutes but 3SC had a few breaks on the counter to threaten Pillars defence.
At the end of the match, Franklin Howard, 3SC’s Chief Coach, attributed his team’s victory to hardwork, while Okey Emordi of Kano Pillars accepted defeat in good faith.
