Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan’s attempt at boosting their relegation survival chance received a devastating blow as Remo Stars forced a one all draw, on Wednesday evening at the Gateway International Stadium, Sagamu.
The visiting Oluyole Warriors had scored a 65th minute header off a corner kick and were almost done with their first away win in the season before Ekene Awazie headed in from a corner two minutes into the added time.
Mostly disappointed were the traveling fans from Ibadan who had believed that the three points had already been secured.
It was a result that compensated Remo Stars F.C. who put everything into the game towards the dying minutes after effecting three consecutive changes.
The scanty home fans celebrated from the stands despite the draw while the bench, players and traveling fans of the Shooting Stars stayed rooted on the spot with obvious disappointment of their faces.
From the start, Shooting Stars had kicked off the game with all seriousness to pick the maximum points, but it was not long before Remo United took control with Mboma Victor, Ekene Awazie and Umar Martaba poking the visitors’ defence at will, getting the supply from Obi Ekene and Onuoha from the midfield.
The slippery, grassy pitch did not help matters as the trio of Ajani Ibrahim, Abu Azeez and Wasiu Jimoh took long before finding their bearings despite their co- ordinated efforts. That was the situation till the end of the first half.
However, Shooting Stars game became much improved with their performance in the second half with Wasiu Jimoh forcing a parried save from Remo Stars goalie Adekunle Tunde, before the resultant corner kick was headed in by James Moses in the 65th minute of the encounter.
By the result, Shooting Stars are now with 37 points from 30 games in 16 position and will engage Enyimba F.C. on Sunday in Ibadan for the match day 31 fixture.
While giving his post match reaction to www.3sc.com.ng, Shooting Stars Technical Adviser Fatai Amoo summed it up that “we had the game in our grips, but we lost it when it mattered most. Very painful but the battle continues. Now we should think about the next game.”
Remo Stars Coach Fatai Osho also gave his remarks that it was not a bad result for his team. “My boys gave a good fight and we salvaged a point. We shall continue to fight”.
Packaged by Olanrewaju Agiri
