3SC pips Rivers United FC 1-0

Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan on Saturday defeated visiting Rivers United Football Club of Port Harcourt 1-0 in the week 7 match of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
3SC got the lone goal in the 40th minutes of the tension-soaked encounter through a penalty kick taken by Wasiu Jimoh.
Ofeim Innah, 33, a defender of Rivers United FC was red carded in the 39th of the game after he had brought down 3SC’s Wasiu Jimoh in the 18 yard box.
The 10-man Rivers United team fought tooth and nail till the end of the match to equalise, but were unlucky.
Mr Stanley Egbuma, the Technical Adviser, Rivers United told newsmen after the match that his team played well but were much unlucky in the conversion of their chances.
“3SC tried but we did better. We got lots of chances, which my boys failed to convert into goals. `You can see that my team played one-man down from the first half till the end and we did not concede any goal,’’ he said.
He assured supporters of the club that they would keep working on the players in the area of goal scoring.
On the red card, he said that the infringement was not worth the red card, but agreed that the referee had the final say on the field of play.
Egbuma said that he would not comment on the officiating of the match, saying such should be judged by the spectators.
Meanwhile, Mr Kadri Ikhana, the 3SC technical adviser, said that winning the match was a tonic to boost the spirit of the players.
Ikhana said that there was much pressure in the game and on the players, adding that they would work assiduously on the remaining matches.
He said that the visiting team played well, describing the combination of Dolphin FC and Sharks as great force in the league overtime.
Half of a month salary had been paid to the 3SC players, out of five month outstanding salaries.
The match was watched by a former Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, Dr Felix Owolabi, an ex-International, and others.