Heartland FC of Owerri welcomed Dakkada FC of uyo at the Dan Anyiam township stadium Owerri in a matchday 12 fixture.
A game that was seemingly bereft of early chances for either side finally came to life in the 7th minute after a great build-up in the middle of the park by Heartland, leaving Benjamin Francis to swing in an inviting ball inside the box, but a well timed punch by Olawale Oremade averted what could have been an early blow for the visitors from Uyo.
The hosts went on to dominate proceedings with a couple of close range efforts by the impressive Seka Paschal, but a real first chance on goal fell to Adachi Emmanuel from a well placed ball by Seeka Paschal only for the towering Adachi to shoot agonizingly wide.
Heartland FC pressed on for a first half opener but it was the visitors that took the lead against the run of play, Unwana Asuquo sending in a well taken cross from the right only for Kokoete Udo to calmy chest down, sending in a thunderous shot to the top left corner for the game’s opening goal.
Heartland almost had a quick response, as Adachi Emmanuel headed wide from a Chidera Eze cross. The visitors held on for a first half lead amid pressures from Heartland , as the referee blew for halftime.
The visitors unexpectedly came into the second half in high spirits and almost doubled their lead in the 46th minute with Christian Ekong narrowly missing a header from Kokoete Udo’s swung in ball much to the relief of the Heartland bench.
The desperation for an equalizer almost gifted the visitors another goal as the defensive pair of Paschal Eze and Orji Kalu lost communication, failing to clear a long ball but a timely intervention of Emeka Nwabulu saved their blushes. The breakthrough for heartland finally came in the 53rd minute as Adachi Emmanuel capitalized on a scrambled ball inside the box to send a thunderous shot for a deserved equalizer. Dakkada were unfortunately reduced to 10 men when captain Aniekan Ekpe got his marching orders after his reaction towards the center referee was deemed uncalled for in the aftermath of an earlier caution for foul.
Heartland pressed on seeking to take advantage of their numerical strength with couple of efforts, with second half entrant Maduforo Kingsley tormenting the Dakkada defense with strings of skills. The impressive Maduforo finally sent the Heartland bench to a frenzy with a last gasp winner, nestling into the Dakkada box,l and calmly poked home the much needed goal, to the delight of a frantic coach Fidelis Ilechukwu. The centre referee eventually brought the game to an end as Heartland FC secured a much needed victory. In a post match comment, the ecstatic coach Ilechukwu had this to say; “The victory today is all about the management, the entire Imolites, and we commend them for their relentless support to the team, as we seek to build on to this momentum going into the oriental derby in Enugu this weekend”. The seemingly dejected coach Umar Danlami expressed displeasure at the state of his team’s mental strength after being reduced to 10 men: “Inasmuch as the red card came early in the second half, reflecting negatively in our tactics, but my players lost concentration towards the end of the game, but we hope to redress the balance when Kano Pillars come visiting this weekend.
Heartland travel to Enugu to keep a date in an oriental derby with regional rivals Rangers FC, while Dakkada welcome Kano Pillars in a matchday 13 fixture in uyo.
Caution: Oremade Olawale (Dakkada)
Olawale Doyeni (Dakkada)
Aniekan Ekpe (Dakkada, red card)
Christian Ekong (Dakkada)
Paschal Eze ( heartland)
Man of the match; Christian Ekong