By Alfred Okoligwe
Mountain of Fire and Miracle Football Club of Lagos ended their run of seven games without a win as they dispatched visiting Adamawa United with an emphatic 2-0 victory at the Soccer Temple in Agege.
Two first half strikes ensured the Olukoya Boys bagged the maximum points in the MatchDay 11 encounter of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
Adeyinka Najeem set the victory tone for the home team as his thunderous shot from over 30 yards had Goalkeeper Victor Philemon sprawling. The goalkeeper was beaten on his near post as he didn’t go down quick enough to stop the shot.
The early strike unsettled the visitors as they were already growing into the match.
Any hopes of making the game a contest quickly vanished as the home team doubled their lead just three minutes after the opener.
Oladayo Alabi neat finish from the edge of the box was a delight to watch. It was the young striker’s first goal this season for the Lagos based team.
Coach Ibrahim Bello of Adamawa United blamed the loss on lack of concentration on the part of his players on the pitch and the psychological impact of the incident on their way to Lagos.
“I want to thank the players on how they approached the game. We were in the contest up until we conceded. It was due to lack of concentration. We also really had to work on the psychology of the boys after what happened to us on our way to Lagos.
“We still have many more games to play this season and I am confident Adamawa United will still battle for it’s place in the Nigerian League top flight”, the Coach insisted.
On his part, the stand-in coach of MFM, Olalekan Gabriel believes the team has turned the corner and will make progress after the victory.
“I want to praise the determination of the boys. The result is a reflection of the hard work by the technical crew and the response from the players. I thought we played well. The result would have been different if we had converted our chances especially in the second half”
The Olukoya Boys will next visit Katsina United on MatchDay 12 and the coach is confident they can pick points off them.
“Katsina United is a strong team but with the confidence in this team, we can go there believing that we can get something from that game. I think we can do it”