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Heartland FC produced another masterclass performance to pick their first away point of the season in the 1-1 draw secured at the Ondo Sports Complex, Akure against Sunshine Stars on Saturday evening in a Nigeria Premier Football League Matchday Three tie.
Home boy, Michael Olalusi put the Owena Whales at the driver’s seat in the 42nd minute from the spot kick after a handball in the vital area by Andrew Abalogu while the Owerri side fought back gamely to get the leveller through Patrick Nwogbaga with 15 minutes to the end of the game.
The Naze Millionaires played the game at the back of a 1-0 loss to Plateau United in Jos and it would not have bode well if they had failed to get a positive result in their second consecutive away game.
The Owerri side went into the game with the mindset of winning their first game of the season but they would be happy to walk away with a point judging by the circumstances the way the game ended.
Heartland head coach, Christian Obi stuck to most of the players that started the last two games against Lobi Stars and Plateau United and just like the previous games, the club struggled at the beginning but later adapted and were irrepressible.
It was the home side that served the early warning and could have been some goals up inside the opening 20 minutes had they taken their chances in the first quarter of the first half. Their failure to take the initiative meant allowing the visitors to warm themselves back into the game from the second quarter of that half until the end of the encounter.
The opening goal of the game came against the run of play. Sunshine Stars were able to sustain a brief momentum spell and in one of such they had players who were shooting directly towards Heartland FC goal posts. One of such shots taking by Nwani Ikechukwu mistakenly hit the outstretched hand of Andrew Abalogu for a penalty kick decision and Michael Olalusi stepped forward to hit the ball to the bottom right beyond the reach of Heartland FC Goalkeeper, Chisom Chiaha in the 42nd minute.
The setback which came at the time the visitors were breathing down the neck of their hosts devastated the Owerri side, but it urged them on to go in the hunt for the equaliser. The substitution of Tunde Oyewole and Onyekachi Okafor for Ezekiel Bassey and Francis Erikan early in the second half helped to further stabilize things.
Fired up by the goal they conceded in the dying minute of the first half the Obi led side were very forceful in the second half and they dominated the game but were not able to convert the numerous chances they had through set pieces close to the 18 yards of the home team. The moment of true came with the equaliser in the 75th minute through Nwogbaga whose half volley caught goalkeeper Mustapha Lawal napping. The goal came from Nnaemeka Christian’s free kick which Lawal misjudged for Nwogbaga to drill the ball into an empty net.
The Naze Millionaires still wanted to end the game impressively with the winning goal but they were caught in position one of their counterattacks. In the 85th minute the hosts were awarded a second penalty kick after Elvis Ori was adjudged to have tripped Owena Whales’ Aniete Uko in the 18 yards box.
Ibrahim Yusuf spot kick hit the goal post with Chiaha getting the direction of the ball and Heartland defence on hand to clear the ball out of danger.
Despite playing more than 10 minutes after the penalty miss, Heartland FC held on to the draw until the centre referee signalled the end of hostilities in Akure’s Ondo Sports Complex.
Heartland FC will return back to Owerri to prepare for their next weekend’s home game with wounded Katsina United who were held to a goalless draw by Lobi Stars at home.
Heartland FC Media
