Imade Osarenkhoe was firing on all cylinders in the first stanza of the 2022/23 Nigeria Premier Football League(NPFL) with six goals but failed to replicate his scoring form in the second round. But ahead of the NPFL Super 6 play-off which starts this weekend in Lagos , the attacker expresses confidence of getting among the goals yet for Bendel Insurance, TUNDE LIADI writes
Bendel Insurance attacker Imade Osarenkhoe is confident of getting among the goals when the season-ending Nigeria Premier Football League Championship (NPFL) playoff begin in Lagos this weekend.
Osarenkhoe started the season on a high scoring in the opening four games. He added two to increase his tally to six from nine games before the end of the first stanza.
The University of Benin graduate got the second stanza underway with goals in the first two games against Enyimba in Aba and the home fixture with Akwa United. The strike against the Promise Keepers on March 29th was his eighth goal of the season and the last before the end of the regular season.
It was a let-down to Imade who gave up the race for the league’s top scorers’ award without much fight due to his long goal drought. Enyimba’s Chukwuemeka Obioma gained from his misfortune scoring 14 goals to lead the NPFL goal chart while Robert Mizo of Bayelsa United came second with nine goals.
It was against this backdrop that Imade celebrated the goal he scored against Sunshine Stars in their 2023 Federation Cup quarter final tie last Sunday having failed to score in about 10 games in all competitions. He didn’t score in the last seven games of the season and their opening three matches in the Federation Cup.
“I was more than relieved to score the goal against Sunshine,” Osarenkhoe told NationSport.
“ It was initially goal bound but there was an infringement before the ball entered the net and it had to be a penalty kick.
“I was sceptical while stepping forward to take the spot kick but I was calm and composed because scoring that goal was very important to me. I was able to strike it well and was a goal. The goal came at the right time with the Super 6 just around the corner.
“I was worried that it would be painful that I proceed to the Super 6 without scoring at least a goal. That has been achieved now and I want to remain focussed and be ready for the Super 6.”
Osarenkhoe said he would be going to the NPFL Championship Playoff with renewed vigour, adding his teammates is at the ready in the quest to return the club back to the continent for the first time since 2005.
“We are going to the Super 6 with the belief that we can finish what we started,” he said.“We want to qualify for the continent and we are ready to put our bodies on the line to achieve our purpose.
“We played the entire season unbeaten. We want to consolidate on that.”
Osarenkhoe defused the notion that Bendel Insurance would struggle to reproduce regular season’s performance after they could only pick up one win from nine second round games as against the first stanza where they were victorious in seven matches out of nine.
Citing their impressive run in the 2023 Federation Cup, Imade predicted an even more splendid performance for the Edo Arsenal during the NPFL Championship playoff in Lagos.
“We do not have anything to prove to anybody,” Osarenkhoe continued .“We tried to start the season very well.
“I must admit that we had few hiccups here and there , but we have got our groove back through our performance in the Federation Cup.
“There is nothing like struggling for us. We will continue from where we stopped; and hoping that our hard work and tenacity shall be rewarded during the Super 6,” he added.