By Femi Atolagbe
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Sunshine Stars Coach, Edith Agoye has urged his players to shrug off their loss against Rivers United and forge ahead with the remaining matches of the season.
Agoye stated this after his side slipped to a first half loss against the Pride of Rivers in the rescheduled match day 12 of the group B Abridged Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) played at Adokiye Amiesimeka Stadium, Portharcourt.
He commended his players for their spirited efforts from the blast of the whistle to the end of the encounter.
He said: the result they got was not what they planned for, but we look ahead and strategize ahead of our next match.
Despite the loss, Sunshine Stars FC still occupy the 4th position on the league table, pushing for super six qualification till the last match day of the league when they welcome Dakkada FC at the Ondo State sports complex, Akure.
Sunshine Stars Football Club of Akure lost 1-0 to Rivers United in a rescheduled (NPFL) matchday 12 fixture.
The pride of Rivers waited till the 27th minute before Maurice Chukwu broke the deadlock through a 23yard strike.
Sunshine Stars curtailed the home team in the early part of the game with the backline and midfield doing a huge defensive work following Rivers United onslaught.
In the 18th minute Achi Nnaemeka was booked for a rough challenge on Rivers United player with resulting free kick handled by stars defence.
The first half however ended one nil in favour of the home team.
The restart of the game saw Edith Agoye threw Samson Olasupo into the fray to replace injured Yusuf Ibrahim.
Mustafa Lawal denied Rivers United a second goal in the 55th minute with a beautiful safe, moments later Imo Ikemdinachi blocked another Rivers goal bound shot.
In search of an equaliser Sunshine Stars made another substitution in the 65th minute, Jide Jimoh, Michael Olalusi coming on for Mafeng Pam and David Onovo respectively.
Efforts by Sunshine stars to get an important equaliser were not coming as the water logged pitch affected the free flow of the game.
Sunshine Stars also introduced Oge Emmanuel and Cletus Emotan in the 80th minute to replace the duo of Lucky Gyang and Achi Nnaemeka.
The match however ended 1-0 in favour of Rivers United.
