By Femi Atolagbe
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Sunshine Stars yesterday held Wikki Tourists of Bauchi 1-1 at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa stadium to retain its third position on the abridged group B table.
The side started the game with early possession of balls and good passing skills in the midfield anchored by Achi Nnaemeka and the duo of Mafeng Pam and Isaac Emeka.
Ibrahim Yusuf ought to have given stars the opener in the 6th minutes when Gyang Lucky squared a pass from the left flank, but animal striker was clipped.
The home side however mounted pressure thereafter with Mustafa Lawal keeping Sunshine Stars into the game with consecutive saves in four minutes.
Efforts by both sides to find an opener were limited with defenders at both halves did a good job.
The first half however ended goalless.
On resumption Into the second 45 minutes wikki tourists made two quick substitutions, perhaps the introduction helped the home team as the center referee blew for a spot kick in the 48th minutes.
Muhammed Idris Guda converted for the home team to give them a surprising lead.
In search of an equalizer, Sunshine stars Gaffer; Edith Agoye made two changes in the 66th minutes introducing Chukwudi John who replaces injured Gyang Lucky and Emeka Cletus Eba coming in for Emeka Isaac.
Seven minutes later 73rd, two players were brought on again by Sunshine Stars this time, Stephen Chukwude and AbdulAziz Ajagbe, replacing Yusuf Ibrahim and Mafeng Pam respectively.
Sunshine Stars pressurized tourists defense consistently in search of an equalizer but the tourists exhibited resistance.
The stadium was silenced in the 87th minutes when Cletus Emotan Eba nodded home from close range after a skilled move by AbdulAziz Ajagbe which resulted in john Chukwudi hitting the post via a header.
The resulting effort sailed towards Emotan Cletus who wasted no effort in nodding home to give stars a deserving equalizer.
Sunshine Stars would have scored a winner in the 93rd minutes; Stephen Chukwude failed to connect a square pass from Achi Nnaemeka.
The match ended 1-1 with Sunshine Stars garnering 16 points from 10 matches.
Sunshine Stars next match comes up, Wednesday at the Ondo state sports complex against Doma Fc.
Edith Agoye in his post match interview commended his players for a job well done; he also commended the home team for giving his side a good fight in the entire duration
“We came here with a game plan, it’s a decent result we’ve got, we go back home and re strategize ahead our next home match, above all I’m satisfied with the result”.
