Charles Atshimene was the hero as league leaders Akwa United FC pipped city rivals Dakkada FC 2-0 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Sunday, to keep their place at the summit after MatchDay 21.
The former Warri Wolves forward scored in each half in a cagey encounter, which saw a number of bookings and couple of missed opportunities.
Dakkada who share home turf with the Promise Keepers were hoping to get the better of their neighbours to position themselves better on the log. They began the day without captain, Aniekan Ekpe, while new signing, Afeez Awakan started. The midfielder helped Akwa United to their first ever trophy in 2015, when he scored the winner against Lobi Stars in the Federation Cup final.
The visitors (Akwa United) were also without influential defender, Olisa Nda, who was suspended following accumulated bookings, while Seth Mayi, who has started every game for the Boboye’s side was given the nod in midfield.
It took 11 minutes for the opening goal to come through. Following a superb team move, defender Etim Matthew guided the ball to Charles Athsimene, who calmly drilled past goalkeeper, Loveday Anugbuo, to the bottom corner.
Boboye’s men could have doubled their advantage just before the break, but had Mfon Udoh to blame for not calmly directing Etim Matthew’s brilliant cross to the net, despite being perfectly spotted.
The visitors quest for goals saw the introduction of Akarandut Orok, Wisdom Fernando and Samuel Amadi just before the restart. The gamble paid off immediately, when Orok and Wisdom combined to feed Atshimene. The striker would outsmart his marker, before curling past Anugbuo for his 6th of the campaign on 48 minutes.
Dakkada dominated proceedings for most of the second half, but could not make sense of the numerous opportunities created, despite the introduction of Nsikak Moses, Solomon Kantoma and Rivio Ayemwenre.
Not impressed by his team’s performance, Coach Danlami Umar admitted he missed the services of his captain and some key players.
“It was like any other day. We tried something and it did not work out. We will work to redeem ourselves in the next match. We had a few knocks before the game”, he told www.npfl.ng.
For Coach Boboye, the win does not signify his team is without blemish, as he looks to fill the void left by Ndifreke Effiong, who joined Libyan side, Al-Ahly Benghazi recently.
“We played against a strong team. We were lucky to have taken our chances. We will work to perfect the team and take our chances in future games as they come. There is more to be done to improve the team and we will keep improving”, he narrated.
The win keeps Akwa United level on points at the top with Kano Pillars, but with a superior goals advantage, while Dakkada drift to 10th position.
