It\u2019s the first day of the month, and if you are an Enyimba fan, you are probably starting October with a smile. After the kind of September we endured, even a small reason to smile feels like a national holiday.<\/p>\n
September was not kind to us. In fact, I can comfortably describe it as one of our worst months in recent memory. Until the last day of last month, we have managed just one point from a possible 15 all season, a haul that was poor by Enyimba standards and, frankly, poor by almost any standard. For a few matchweeks, we even found ourselves at the bottom of the NPFL table, desperately searching for a point and finding absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n
Then came that precious point in Kano.<\/p>\n
What followed was the tortuous journey back to Aba by road, with the team reportedly driving almost nonstop so they could return, get some much-needed sleep and still have a full training session ahead of the next match. It was all about keeping the little momentum we had gained. After all, it is easier to turn a glowing spark into a wildfire than to start a fresh fire with damp wood. And yesterday, that spark looked like a proper fire.<\/p>\n
Emmanuel Deutsch retained almost the same starting XI that got the job done in Kano, with captain Stanley Dimgba the only new face in the lineup. It did not take long for the Aba crowd to have something to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Richard Christopher opened the scoring in the sixth minute after a defensive mix-up allowed him to take the ball beyond Sochima and squeeze it just over the goal line. That goal was only the beginning of the worries for Shooting Stars.<\/p>\n
Before the visitors could properly recover, Chibuike Damian doubled the advantage with a sumptuous volley from more than 30 yards. The ball sailed past a helpless Sochima just before the half-hour mark, and suddenly, Aba was beginning to look and indeed sound like the Aba we know.<\/p>\n
Six minutes later, it was three. Idris Abubakar made sure Enyimba went into the break with a commanding advantage and, more importantly, gave Shooting Stars very little reason to dream about a comeback.<\/p>\n
The second half started almost exactly as the first had ended. Four minutes after the restart, Ifeanyi Ihemekwele opened his Enyimba account to make it four. It was a fitting goal, accompanied by an even more fitting celebration: \u201cThank You Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he keeps adding to that tally, perhaps our own dream of returning to the continent can begin looking a little less like a dream and a little more like a plan.<\/p>\n
Then came the law of diminishing returns. After the hour mark, we understandably began to run out of steam. The intensity dropped, the visitors found some openings and Shooting Stars eventually pulled two goals back. But even with those late concessions, Enyimba had done enough damage in the first 50 minutes to ensure that we were never really in danger of throwing away the advantage.<\/p>\n
A third goal for the visitors could have made the final minutes unnecessarily interesting, but thankfully, we kept them at bay and saw the game through.<\/p>\n
It was a performance that reminded us of what Enyimba is supposed to be. Aggressive, purposeful, entertaining and, most importantly, victorious. It had been in a while.<\/p>\n
After four consecutive defeats and a difficult September, we have finally halted that nauseating run of home defeats. Better still, we have done it in style. With another home match coming up this weekend, the task now is to consolidate this result, keep climbing and pull ourselves away from the uncomfortable region of the table we have occupied for far too long.<\/p>\n
For Shooting Stars, who were hoping to end their miserable streak of away matches without a point in all competitions, and for every other team planning to come to Aba and cause us some heart attacks, consider this a public service announcement:<\/p>\n
The promo is over. The Elephants are back!<\/em><\/p>\n May the joy we have carried into this 10th month of the year continue as we march towards our quest for a tenth league title.<\/p>\n Happy New Month, Enyimba faithfuls!<\/p>\n Enyimba Enyi!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s the first day of the month, and if you are an Enyimba fan, you are probably starting October with a smile. After the kind of September we endured, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"breadcrumbs_single_post":"","page_title_panel":"","breadcrumbs_single_page":"","single_page_alignment":"","single_page_margin":"","page_structure_type":"","content_style_source":"","content_style":"","blog_post_streched_ed":"","blog_page_streched_ed":"","has_transparent_header":"","disable_transparent_header":"","vertical_spacing_source":"","content_area_spacing":"","single_post_content_background":"","single_page_content_background":"","single_post_boxed_content_spacing":"","single_page_boxed_content_spacing":"","single_post_content_boxed_radius":"","single_page_content_boxed_radius":"","disable_featured_image":"","disable_post_tags":"","disable_author_box":"","disable_posts_navigation":"","disable_comments":"","disable_related_posts":"","disable_header":"","disable_footer":"","footnotes":"","_rishi_post_view_count":34},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[2,3,116,5,20],"class_list":["post-3930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-general","tag-aba","tag-enyimba","tag-nigerian-premier-football-league","tag-npfl","tag-shooting-stars","rishi-post"],"yoast_head":"\n