Adamawa United Football Club of Yola played out a 1-1 draw with visiting Kano Pillars Football Club of Kano in the 2020/2021 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) on Sunday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both sides also failed to convert a good number of goal scoring chances in the Match Day 1 fixture played at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe.
Pillars’ Captain Rabiu Ali scored for the visitors in the 31st minute, and a 74th minute goal by substitute Isa Garba, levelled the scoring for United.
Reacting to the result, Lionel Soccoia, Kano Pillars coach, told NAN that although he was happy with the one point secured by his team, he was dissatisfied with the opportunities that his boys failed to convert.
He said: “1-1 is good for me but we came here to win, but we couldn’t. Football is when you have the opportunity you must score; we had too many opportunities today but we didn’t take them.”
Soccoia, however, stated that the team would go back to Kano to work on their lapses to secure maximum points in their next match.
He also said that he had no problems with the officiating of the match.
Also, the Chief Coach of Adamawa United, Ibrahim Shehu, said that in spite of the challenge of not arriving Gombe on time, they were able to salvage a point from the match.
“We thank God and we are happy. I encouraged the team to avoid inferiority complex; feel free and enjoy the game and they did,” Shehu said.
The coach, who described the officiating as `a bit fair’, stressed that his team would re-strategise for the maximum points in their next match.
During the match, security personnel at the main entrance of the stadium gate, had a hard time ensuring that fans did not force their way into the stadium as most of them did not adhere to the COVID-19 protocols of wearing face masks and observing physical distancing, NAN reports.
