By Kingsley uzowulu.
Heartland fc of Owerri yesterday at the Dan Anyiam stadium were defeated by Abia Warriors Fc of Umuahia by 1-0.
The match which was an Oriental derby was kicked off by Heartland fc through surajudeen lawal at 4pm as the team launched an attack against the visitors almost immediately.
Prior before the match the home team are placed 17th on the NPFL log with 34 pts and the Umuahia landlords also had garnered 44pts and are placed 5th.
The two teams came with different mind sets , for the Naze Millionaires they know the needed the 3 pts at stake to itch their way out of relegation while Abia Warriors also were targeting the maximum point to press home their quest for a continental ticket at the end of the league.
In the 10th minute of the first half the Emmanuel Amuneke tutored lads had a clear cut chance to go in front which was wasted due to poor finishing, another opportunity came calling in the 24minute through Surajudeen Lawal in the penalty area of the visitors and was clearly filtered away.
Abia Warriors also had a fair share of their own shots on target as they narrowly missed scoring the curtain raiser off a shot by Ezekiel (18) that hit the wood works after Heartland Fc goaltender Kelvin ogunga was beaten hands down.
The home team continued with their catalogue of misses even when they had the goal keeper of Abia Warriors (Uzoigwe) at their mercy.
The first half remained a ding dong affair until the referee called for a break .
In the second half the home team made a quick substitution as Samuel Wisdom replaced tired chukwudi Agor.
The visitors kicked off for the start of the half and indicated clearly that they were in for business and on a revenge mission as well having lost to the Naze Millionaires in the first stanza of the NPFL.
Moments later and in the cause of the match Abia Warriors Fc player was sent off by the referee for delibrately striking Heartland fc attacker Surajudeen Lawal.
The visitors quickly made a change, just as the home team pulled out Daniel Ekpo for Joel okoro in the 71st minute.
The reduction of the Umuahia team by one man did not change anything as the visitors became even more deadly , tormenting the home team and disorganizing them the more until the dieing moments of the match when the Naze Millionaires skipper Christian Molokwu brought down a rampaging Warriors attacker some meters away from their penalty area.
The resultant freekick was clinically converted to goal by the captain of the visitors.
The home team were badly wounded and pressed hard to restore parity and failed to achieve same as well.
The match officials doled out another 7 minutes after full time which was also barely enough for Heartland fc to do any damage against the Umuahia boys who maintained their grounds with more robust and technical play until the referee signaled for the end of the thrilling derby.
The Naze Millionaires will be in Ikenne away to SunShine Stars of Akure for match day 31 in continuation of the 2024/25 NPFL.
