By Wale Mustapha
Coach Kayode Emmanuel of Sunshine Stars was furious that his side slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Lobi Stars and blamed the defeat on loss of concentration.
The Coach stepped in after Gbenga Ogunbote walked off the job following a string of 15 games without a win. Despite the continued bad run of form, Kayode believes the team still stands a good chance to beat the drop.
Sunshine Stars surrendered an early lead in Makurdi to go down 2-1 to Lobi Stars in one of the MatchDay24 fixtures at the Aper Aku Stadium.
Kayode also asserted that he is not under pressure because having a bad run is normal in the business and pointed to an improved performance though they lost.
“I believe we raised the game today but unfortunately we lost concentration at some point which made us to concede those goals, especially the second goal.
“We are not under any pressure and I am confident we are not going to be relegated, it won’t happen because with how we played today and with a little effort added to it, we will beat it (relegation),” said Kayode.
On the opposite bench, Kabir Dogo, Technical Adviser of Lobi Stars said he was delighted by the win but admitted it was a tough game against a struggling Sunshine side.
The former Nasarawa United Coach also seized the opportunity to dispel rumors of his resignation from Lobi Stars and said the team would work towards replicating their impressive home performances in away games.
In the match, Lobi Stars’ John Lazarus resurrected the side from an early goal trail to win 2-1.
Ex Super Eagles’ midfielder, Ugonna Uzochukwu gave Sunshine Stars a shock lead inside the opening 15 minutes as he turned in a delivery from Ifeagwu Ojukwu.
Lobi’s right back, Lazarus evened the score line three minutes after as he finished off a pass laid by Samuel Matthias.
Lobi stars would then get what eventually became their winning goal in the 26th minute through Ossy Martins when he tucked in Austin Ogunye’s well measured pass.
Sadeeq Yusuf would go close to putting the Owena Whales back in the game with few minutes to end the first half when he was provided with a pass in front of Lobi’s goal but had his ferocious effort blocked by Matthias.
Kehinde Adedipe also drew a smart save from Emmanuel Daniel as the last effort in the first half.
The resumption was more of end to end stuff with Sunshine throwing all they had into it while Lobi were more conservative.
Fuad Ekelojuoti, Ojukwu and Sadeeq caused more worries for Lobi’s defense but couldn’t make them count as they lacked initiatives to score.
Lobi will also have Monday Akile to blame for not increasing their tally in the second half fluffing two of Lobi’s best chances.
Sunshine Stars made a late surge to get something from the game but met a resolute Lobi defense marshalled by Alex Aghahowa and John Bello.
Lobi Stars have now moved up to eighth on the log with 34 points while Sunshine Stars are occupying 18th position with 21 points.
Harrison Iwuala
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