Good morning!
Another away day, another disappointment. At this point, it’s almost like a ritual—pack our bags, travel, play, lose. Yes, we did get that one win in Bauchi, but for every team that has played more than once at their “home” ground this season, we haven’t taken a single point this year. It’s becoming too predictable, and not in a good way.
Eguma rolled the dice with debuts for Quadri Odusukanmi and Mojeeb Odufeso, while Issah Mohammed got his second start. Imo Obot, Kalu Nweke, Obichere Wisdom, Pascal Eze, and Fatai Abdullahi also returned to the lineup, while Ani Ozoemena kept his place in goal—a decision that proved vital early on.
We barely settled in before Insurance came knocking. As early as the 4th minute, our former fullback Stanley Okorom tested Ozoemena with a free kick, and that set the tone for what would be a long afternoon. The Benin Arsenals kept firing, but our shot-stopper stood strong. Then, in the 15th minute, we had our best chance—Issah Mohammed, our standout winter signing, forced Joshua Baba into a double save. The resulting corner? Quickly wasted.
Then came the moment that tilted the game—Innocent Gabriel saw red for a DOGSO infringement on Uche Collins. Fortunately, it wasn’t in the box, so we dodged a penalty, but playing a man down in Benin? Bad news. Insurance kept pressing, and we kept throwing our bodies on the line. Somehow, we held on until halftime.
Second half, same story. Insurance kept piling on the pressure, and in the 54th minute, our resistance finally cracked—Kayode Oke pounced on a defensive mix-up and nodded past Ozoemena. Eguma threw in Junior Lokosa, Chidiebere Nnachi, and Chinedu Ufere to spark something, but Insurance’s defense refused to budge. Instead, we nearly conceded again in the final 10 minutes, with Ozoemena pulling off back-to-back saves to keep the score respectable. Final whistle: another road defeat.
Now, let’s face it—2 wins in our last 10 NPFL matches? That’s NOT Enyimba football. Yes, new signings need time to gel, but that doesn’t mean we should be accumulating these ugly stats.
There was, however, one bright spark—our U19 boys gave us something to smile about, thrashing AustinPlus 5-2 in the N-Youth League Cup, with Nelson Sule bagging another hat-trick. The kid is on fire!
Up next? Rivers United at home this weekend. They’re struggling too, so this should be a must-win for us. But at this rate? Hope is all we have.
Back tomorrow,
Enyimba Enyi!
