Daily Independent Online.
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Thursday, July 08, 2004.
Dolphin dethrones Lobi in FA Cup
By Emeka Nwani
Senior
Correspondent,
Lagos
Dolphin football club of Port-Harcourt
yesterday at the Onikan Stadium, defeated Coca-Cola FA Cup defending champions,
Lobi Stars of Makurdi 2-1 in a match described as one of the best in the
competition so far.
The match started
on a high tempo with the two teams trying to outwit each other but it was Lobi
Stars that got the upper hand.
With Isiaka
Olawale, Benedict Atule, Odeh Ogah and Kelechi Okoye, Lobi were able to force
Dolphins to play more on the defensive, although they could not convert any of
their chances into goals.
But Dolphin soon
got into the game with Bola Bello, Kelechi Osunwa and Musa Abubakar dictating
the pace for the Port-Harcourt side.
The game was played
more in the midfield as no defence gave in to the pressures on both sides.
In the 35th
however, Dolphins got the curtain raiser.
Former
International, Emmanuel Ebiede stroked the ball to Musa Abubakar who outran
Taiye Taiwo on the right flank to make a precise pullout, which beat all the
defenders of Lobi to find Kelechi Osunwa who jabbed the ball into an empty net.
The first half
ended that way.
The second half
started on a blistering form from Lobi Stars and five minutes later, they were
duly rewarded with a goal. A pullout on the ground found Atule who was blocked
from taking a shot and Ladi Gasper dribbled a Dolphin player to lay the ball
for Isiaka Olawale whose shot beat Chijioke Ejiogu in goal for Dolphin.
Lobi Stars like it
happened in the first half continued dominating the match but could not score
more goals.
But coach Musa
Abdullahi of Dolphin had something up his sleeves when he brought in Efosa
Eguaku for Emmanuel Ebiede in the dying minutes of the game.
Eguaku had hardly
warmed up on the pitch when he found a loose ball, which Lobi defenders failed
to clear to slot in the back breaking goal in the 87th minutes.
Coach Maurice
Cooreman said after the game that they were unlucky in the game, while
Abdullahi noted that it was a tough game, but was happy they defeated the
defending champions.
