Lokosa strikes late to deny Rangers full points

Players of seven time Nigerian league champions, Rangers International F.C could not make their dominance and much improved performance count in a match day 10 encounter against four time champions of the league, Kano Pillars, that struck a late equalizer to the disappointment of the expectant hordes of spectators.

It was a wasteful afternoon for the coach Olugbenga Ogunbote wards who missed at the least four convertible chances before breaking the resistance of  Coach Ibrahim Musa’ men on 40 minutes as Godwin Aguda steeled his nerves to slot home from inside the box after some slack marking.

Rangers created more scoring opportunities at the start of the second stanza with Ifeanyi George, Abu Azeez and Chiamaka Madu all guilty on the day with Azeez’ miss on 54^th minute when he robbed David Obiozor of the ball inside the box and waited too long for the goalkeeper to recover and steal the ball back from the attacker.

Coach Musa made three substitutions as he yanked off Idris Aloma for lanky Abdullahi Juli early in the second stanza with two more that saw Nwagua Nyima and Sikiru Kamal for Nazifi Yahaya and Ifeanyi Nweke and it proved a worthy action as the visitors turned in the screw.

With only five minutes left on the clock, a quick counter attack saw Rabiu Ali release Nzube Anaezemba whose cleaver chip was stabbed into the yawning net by Junior Lokosa past Femi Thomas who had made a top class save off the diminutive Nzube’ curly shoot that was headed for the bottom right corner on 63 minutes.

Rangers coaching crew did throw Kelvin Itoya, Felix Ogbuke and Jonathan Richard into the fray for some tiring legs but the defence line of the visitors ably marshalled by Emmanuel Anyanwu refused to yield any ground as the ‘Sai Masu Gida’ side held out for a famous draw.

Coach Musa said after the encounter, “We came here to win for our late defender, Chinedu Udoji but I am happy with the result. Our being able to read perfectly the flow of the game helped us get this result as we continue to challenge for top prizes at the end of the season.”

Rangers’ gaffer, Olugbenga Ogunbote, said, “I think we were wasteful in the game. You can count the number of chances we created that we did not make use of. The result is the prize for wastefulness. Yes, we drew at home and lost two points and there is nothing stopping us from going away to make some good points.”

Rangers now have fourteen points from nine matches and will be trading tackles with reigning league champions and CAF Champions league campaigners, Plateau United F.C in a re-scheduled match day 9 encounter in Jos on Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

STATISTICS:

RANGERS TEAM: Femi Thomas, Tope Olusesi, Isaac Loute, Christian Madu, Chibuzor Madu, Okey Odita, Bright Silas, Godwin Aguda ( Richard Jonathan -78^th min.), Abu Azeez (Kelvin Itoya -57^thmin.), Chiamaka Madu, Ifeanyi George (Felix Ogbuke -88^th min.). SUBS NOT USED: Nana Bonsu, Pape Ousmane, Ugwu Uwadiegwu, Solomon Okpako.

GOAL: Godwin Aguda – 40^th minute

CAUTION: Okey Odita -55^th minute.

KANO PILLARS TEAM: David Obiozor, Victor Dennis, Idris Aloma (Abdullahi Juli -48^th min.), Sikiru Kamal (Ifeanyi Nweke -65^th min.), Emma Anyanwu, Joel Djang, N

Zube Anaezemba, Rabiu Ali, Alhassan Ibrahim, Nwagua Nyima (Nazifi Yahaya -63^rd min.) Junior Lokosa. SUBS NOT USED: Danladi Isa, Murtala Adamu, Ojebisi Adewale, Adamu Hassan.

GOAL: Junior Lokosa -85^th minute.

CAUTION: Alhassan Ibrahim -24^th minute, Idris Aloma -35^th minute.

REFEREE: Olayinka Olajide – FIFA (Lagos).