Onyedikachi the Hero as Heartland hit Katsina 2-0 in Owerri

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By Tunde Liade

Heartland FC got the better of Katsina United in a 2-0 win that moved the Owerri side to the seventh spot on the league table after Matchday 21 of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). The match was played on Sunday at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri.

The Naze Millionaires scored first in the 14th minute through Bright Onyedikachi before the icing on the cake by Kelechi Chimezie in the 26th minute to ensure the Owerri side made it three successive wins from their last three games.
Heartland FC head coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu gave a hint on what to expect when he selected almost the first eleven players that started in Gombe last weekend in their 1-0 away win over Adamawa United. The only change being the introduction of Chijioke Akuneto in place of Ugochukwu Leonard Aputazie.
New Katsina United gaffer, Azeez Muhammed also stuck with the 11 players that annihilated Wikki Tourists 5-1 at home last weekend.
It was the Changi Boys that started the game impressively. They made series of incursions into the Heartland vital area in the opening five minutes but they were repelled by the hosts’ defence marshalled by Pascal Eze, Chizoba Amaefula, Austine Opara and Chidera Eze.
The visitors’ lack of cutting edge meant they paid dearly for it when Heartland gradually warmed themselves up into the game. The home team took the lead In the 14th minute through Bright Onyedikachi who nodded home a cutback from Emeka Atuloma to Pascal Seka off Chidera Eze’s beautifully laid corner kick.
The ovation that greeted the first goal had hardly died down when Heartland struck again 12 minutes later with Onyedikachi at the heart of the goal again. It was the former FC IfeanyiUbah diminutive winger that picked the loose ball and ran towards the flank of the visitors. He dribbled his marker effortlessly and laid the ball on the plate for Kelechi Chimezie who fired a belter that Katsina United’s goalkeeper, Dauda Kassaly had no answer for.
Katsina United improved their game thereafter and they created a handful of chances but were unable to convert them.
The Changi Boys were class apart in the second half with Samuel Kalu, Samuel Nnoshiri (who played against his former team), and Joseph Atule troubling the Heartland defence but their Achilles heel was their inability to take their chances until the referee ended the game.
Heartland have this won their last three games and have scooped 32 points from 21 games to move to the seventh spot while Katsina United slumped to the 16th with 21 points from 21 games. It was also Ikechukwu Ezenwa’s second clean sheet of the season.
What’s next? 
Heartland FC will travel to Lafia to face one of the in-form teams in the division, Nasarawa United in a MatchDay 22 tie while Katsina United have a NorthWest derby to negotiate against Kano Pillars next weekend at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina.
Heartland Team list
 Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Chidera Eze, Amaefule Chizoba, Opara Austine, Pascal Eze, Kelechi Chimezie, Emeka Atuloma, Akuneto Chijioke (Issah Lenkat 70′), Onyedikachi Bright (Jimoh Gbadamosi 89′), Adachi Emmanuel (Chukwudi Nwaodu 89′), Seka Pascal (Kingsley Maduforo 70′)
      Unused Substitutes
Chijioke Ejiogu, Kenneth Ikwugbado,  Ikenna Agozie, Opara Chijioke, Aputazie Ugochukwu
Goals: Bright Onyedijachi 14′ (assisted by Pascal Seka), Kelechi Chimezie 26′ (Assisted by Bright Onyedikachi)
Man of the Match: Bright Onyedikachi (Heartland FC)
Katsina United Team list
Dauda Kassaly, Sanusi Abdulmutalab (Frank Kappe 50′), Faisal Sani, Mansour Saleh Aliyu, Habibu Yakubu, Sulley Mahamadau, Samuel Kalu (Masssaly Boubacar 81), Usman Bara’u, Rasheed Ahmed, Samuel Nnoshiri (Matthew Emmanuel 50′), Joseph Atule (Mahmud Abdulwasiu 65′)
Unused substitutes
Yusuf Muhammad, Adekunle Adeniyi, Abdulkareem Ahmed.
Yellow Card: Samuel Nnoshiri (44′)

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