The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Heartland

  • ‘Heartland’s troubles are temporary’

    ‘Heartland’s troubles are temporary’

    Heartland defensive midfielder Julius Ubido has said his side will rediscover their winning mentality in the ongoing 2012/13 Glo Premier League.

    The Nigerian Cup holders have been without a point in almost six matches with the height of their lows being the double defeat to Oriental foes, Enyimba and Glo Premier League newcomers, Nembe City.

    Obviously worried by the spate of defeats, the Nigerian playmaker assured that the Naze Millionaires would get their acts right and return to winning ways soon.

    “I think we’re having bad days at the moment and our challengers have taken full advantage and made huge profits out of our discomfort. The bad days have seen Enyimba achieve a double at our expense followed almost immediately by Nembe City.

    “But I’m confident we’ll shortly get it right, hopefully starting from our next game against Warri Wolves in Owerri. I believe we could go out and pick points to offset the deficits of these past losses. It’s not over for us as far as the ongoing league season is concerned, the title is wide open and could be anybody’s taking. The gap in between teams is minimal, two or three straight wins will surely see us drastically narrowing the gap.

    “Teams usually have their ups and downs. We’re just experiencing ours not that we’re not playing a good game, we’re playing well and we have quality players, too. I think we’re just unlucky of late but like I said our fortunes will soon blossom once again,” Ubido said to supersport.com.

    Heartland are wedged in the 12th position on the log on 28 points from a possible 63.

  • No new boys for Heartland

    No new boys for Heartland

    Heartland coach Ndubuisi Nduka has ruled out signing new players for his side ahead of the remainder of the 2012/13 Glo Premier League season.

    The Nigerian Cup holders have resumed training after a brief holiday preparatory to their grudge mid-week Glo Premier League Matchday 20 encounter against Enyimba on July 3 at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri.

    The Aba club were 1-0 better than their Oriental foes, Heartland, in the first fixture at the Aba International Stadium. Nduka said the players in his fold are adequate to prosecute the side’s league and Federation Cup campaigns.

    “No, we’re not bringing in any new player within the mid-term transfer period, we’re contented with the quality of players we’ve at the moment and will see our campaigns in the league and Federation Cup to a successful end with those players.

    “We’re equally not going to lay off any player except if such a player desires to leave the team. We did good recruitment at the start of the season, we’ve not seen any reason to doubt the performance or quality of the players. The calibre of players we have should be able to give us what we want in the ongoing football season,” said the former Plateau United coach to supersport.com.

    Nduka said his side will be ready to pay Enyimba in their own coin when they visit Owerri for the Glo Premier League Matchday 20 game.

    “I think Enyimba have taken their fair share of the points in Aba so it will be our turn to take ours when they visit Owerri for the reverse fixture. I’m confident nothing will stop us from picking the maximum points at stake,” he said.

    The former Sharks coach was however silent over the disquiet among his players over financial issues.

  • Heartland players boycott training

    Heartland players boycott training

    The players of Heartland FC of Owerri may have made good their threat to go on strike if the club failed to pay the 20 per cent signing-on fees owed them.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the players apparently boycotted their training since Monday to drive home the point.

    The players were officially allowed two weeks of break at the end of first stanza of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) which elapsed on Sunday.

    They were expected to return to camp on Sunday and resume training on Monday but they did not turn up for training.

    The NAN correspondent who visited the Dan Anyiam Stadium venue of their training yesterday reports that only the club’s coach, Ndubuisi Ndubueze, and its second team were at the training ground.

    NAN recalls that prior to the break, the players had threatened to go on strike if the Imo government failed to settle their entitlements.

    Coach Ndubueze told NAN that the issue on ground did not fall within his jurisdiction to react, insisting that it was an administrative issue.

    He acknowledged that some players had returned from the break but had yet to report for training.

    Cajetan Nkwopara, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the club, said the management was still expecting the players to resume normal training.

    Nkwopara said the management did not receive any strike notice from the players, stressing that it believed that the players would resume training.

    He acknowledged that the state government owed the players some amount of money and promised that they would be settled as soon as the government released the money.

    On his part, the state’s Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Kenneth Emelu, told NAN that Governor Rochas Okorocha had approved the money.

    Emelu added that the state’s Accountant-General, George Eche, had yet to release the money into the sports ministry’s coffers.

    He said that as soon as the money was released, he would remit it to the club’s accounts.

  • Enyimba, Heartland set up ‘Oriental Derby’

    Enyimba, Heartland set up ‘Oriental Derby’

    THE FIREWORKS will fly inside the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba when Enyimba host Heartland today in another ‘Oriental Derby’.

    Six-time champions Enyimba are still struggling with their form, while Heartland have been on a fine despite their financial troubles.

    Last season, Enyimba won this fixture 1-0, but Heartland captain Chinedu Efugh told MTNFootball.com that with good officiating, they will beat Enyimba in Aba.

    “It is obvious we are in good form now and can beat any team anywhere. Enyimba are not unbeatable and so we are going to Aba with the target to beat them,” he declared.

    “If the officiating is good, I am upbeat they will fall.

    “We lost to them 1-0 last year courtesy of referee’s biased officiating.

  • Injury derails Heartland against Kano Pillars

    Injury derails Heartland against Kano Pillars

    Heartland assistant chief coach, Ramson Madu has blamed his side’s defeat at Kano Pillars to the injuries picked by the duo, Amarachi Ukaegbu and Tochukwu Esom.

    Midfielder, Rabiu Ali scored the match winner in the 73rd minute to give his side a three-point lead at the top on 28 points against second-placed Heartland’s 25 points from possible 45.

    The encounter was a rescheduled Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Matchday Eight at the Fifa Goal Project pitch in Abuja on Saturday.

    Madu said the injury to the left-back and striker caused his side to effect hurried changes that did not go down well with the manner the side’s executed the game.

    “We’ve taken the defeat in good faith, the injuries to our left-back, Amarachi Ukaegbu and striker, Tochukwu Esom caused us the game.

    “We tried to do quick adjustment but it didn’t work out especially in the second half of the game.

    “We didn’t up our game in the second half like we did in the first half. I can’t explain it and that’s why I’ve avoided blaming the side for the defeat.

    “They’ve been doing very well in past matches, maybe today (Saturday) is not their day, it does happen in football. Today actually wasn’t their day, we’ve decided to look ahead to the next match at El-Kanemi Warriors in Maiduguri on Wednesday,” said the former Iwuanyanwu Nationale star player to supersport.com.

    Madu defended the coach’s decision to start the side’s top scorers, Isah Akor and Happy Okuoka from the bench.

    “Akor and Okuoka are not our best strikers. We have lots of strikers but decision on who starts the match is based on performance at training, so decision to bring them in into the game is part of the strategy for the game,” he said.

    The Nigerian Cup holders will head to Maiduguri to confront El-Kanemi Warriors in mid-week NPFL Matchday 16 at the Maiduguri Township Stadium thereafter the side will head southeast to tackle Enugu Rangers in Enugu in Matchday 17.

  • Heartland blast referee

    Heartland coach, Nduka Ndubuisi has cried blue murder at his side’s 1-2 loss to Sunshine Stars in the mid-week Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Matchday 14 encounter at the Akure Township Stadium.

    Attacking midfielder, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu put the Nigerian Cup holders in front at the dot of half time while the home side came back to win the game through two penalties awarded by centre referee, Paul Umuago from Delta State.

    Heartland finished the entire game with 10 men as forward, Happy Okuoka was shown the red card in the third minute.

    Goalkeeper, Moses Ocheje converted both penalties in the 49th minute and added time for the Akure Gunners. Ndubuisi said unapologetically that the centre referee, is a disgrace to the NPFL and demanded sanctioning.

    “Nigerian league has been murdered in Akure by centre referee, Paul Umuago from Delta State. The League Management Company (LMC) should immediately ban the referee from officiating in the league as his continuing presence in the league spells doom for the system.

    “The referee made it difficult for us to play our game as every of his call was directed against us. He gave my player, Happy Okuoka a red card in a questionable circumstance as if that wasn’t enough he went ahead to award two dubious penalties to Sunshine Stars.

    “The last penalty was funny as the ball clearly hit the back of my player and he pointed at the penalty spot and this was after the added time has been exhausted. The referee blew off the match immediately Sunshine Stars converted the penalty that gave them a 2-1 lead.

    “It’s a show of shame and the early the LMC rise up to stop the likes of Paul Umuago from officiating in the league the better for the growth and development of the league. As I said the centre referee is disgrace.

    “Nobody should mistake my reaction to that of a loser. What happened was openly done which unbiased assessors would readily agree with me that the centre referee deserved to be banished outright,” said coach Ndubuisi to supersport.com.

    The defeat leaves Heartland on 22 points from a possible 42.

  • Heartland want club owners in LMC out

    Heartland’s General Manager, Fan Ndubuoke has called on Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Clubs’ officials serving on the board of the League Management Company (LMC) to quit in the spirit of fairness and equity.

    Ndubuoke, in a chat with NationSport, alleged that NPFL representatives in the LMC are using their position to intimidate match officials that are billed to handle their home games.

    He noted that although Heartland lost 1-2 to Sunshine Stars in Akure, his players and officials were allegedly assaulted by fans of the home team when Heartland were leading 1-0 at halftime.

    He queried the continuous relevance of club owners/managers who are serving with the LMC if the league body is serious about fair officiating in the league.

    “I want to call on all club owners and managers that are serving on the board of the LMC to resign forthwith from the league body, because they are using their positions to intimidate match officials designated to cover their home games,” Ndubuoke claimed.

    The Mbaise-born former Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) boss also admonished the LMC to also scrutinise match officials who are allegedly on the payroll of clubs in the league.

    He said the episode where particular referees have been consistently used by same clubs for their home matches does not augur well for the development of the league if the LMC is serious about changing the face of the league.

  • Heartland, Sunshine differ on crowd violence claim

    Heartland relinquished their top spot on the league table to Kano Pillars after they were beaten 1-2 by Sunshine Stars in Akure amidst alleged assault on their players which the Akure Gunners however dispelled.

    The Naze Millionaires shot into the lead in the first half and held on till halftime. But Sunshine were awarded two penalty kicks converted by the Akure Gunners’ captain and Goalkeeper Moses Ocheje.

    Heartland’s General Manager, Fan Ndubuoke in a chat with SportingLife alleged his wards lost to the alleged victimisation and desperation of the home team to get all points.

    He explained that trouble started when Heartland got the first goal and that despite reducing the Naze Millionaires to 10 men the team went into halftime a goal up.

    Ndubuoke alleged Heartland’s players and officials were physically assaulted by the loyalists of Sunshine Stars during halftime in the desperate bid to weaken the Owerri based club.

    “We didn’t deserve to lose to Sunshine in Akure but we know how the script was acted. The centre referee Paul Umanga from Delta State did all within his reach to ensure we lost. We led 1-0 but this elicited negative reactions and before we knew what happened we were a man less through a contentious red card to Happy Okuoka.

    “When they noticed that it didn’t weaken us, my players and officials were assaulted and even beaten during the halftime all in an attempt by Sunshine to win. Still my boys never gave up until the centre referee gave them a penalty with which they equalised.

    “The centre referee added additional eight minutes after regulation time and during this period, the referee awarded another penalty to the home team from where they got their winning goal.

    “Nigerian football will take some time to grow if questionable officiating like this one is swept under the carpet,” Ndubuoke urged.

    Meanwhile in a refutal, the chief coach of Sunshine Stars, Abimbola Samuel has debunked the claim that the visiting team were molested and robbed.

    Coach Abimbola in a telephone chat commended their peace loving fans and added that Akure remains one of the peaceful stadia in the Nigerian league.

    He stated that their fans have been tutored against crowd violence and the consequences of their actions to visiting teams to the fortunes of the club in the league.

    Abimbola said Heartland lost to their own carelessness and should not complain as they had the opportunity to beat Sunshine at home but frittered it with their delay tactics.

    “I am a christian and I can never lie to you. Akure fans are peace loving and based on what happened in the past they have learnt their lessons. No fan of Sunshine touched any Heartland player. I don’t know what they want to get from fabricating stories that never existed. They had every opportunity to beat us but they threw it away with their delay tactics and the two penalties we had were justified,” coach Abimbola fired back.

  • Itodo returns against Heartland

    Itodo returns against Heartland

    Sunshine Stars midfielder, Cletus Itodo will be available for selection in his side’s mid-week Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Matchday 14 clash against leaders, Heartland at the Akure Township Stadium.

    The experienced Nigerian playmaker has not been in his side’s line-up in the last four league matches due to severe typhoid fever attack but has declared himself fit for the top flight game.

    The Akure Gunners managed pitiable one point from a possible 12 in the last four games to 3SC, ABS, El-Kanemi Warriors and Sharks to bring their total earning to 18 leaving them in 10th spot on the 20-team elite league log.

    Itodo said the game against the NPFL leaders is important to his side making it a must play for any player who wishes the side well this season.

    “I’m fit and will be available for selection against Heartland on Wednesday in Akure. The encounter is very important to us that every hand must be on deck to ensure we profit handsomely from the game.

    “Heartland are enjoying the best of times at the moment so we must be at our very best to pick maximum points. We need the points badly to shore up our position on the log. It has not been good experience standing out in my team past three or four games, It has been painful seeing them go down and I couldn’t offer any hand of assistance no thanks to the typhoid fever that brought me down to my knees.

    “I’m excited to be back and will give my very best should the coaches beckon on me. I’ll be happy to announce my return to the domestic league with an emphatic victory against Heartland. Every player understands the plight of the side at the moment and is raring to go against Heartland, I sincerely pray everything will turn out right in our favour on Wednesday,” said the former Dolphins defensive midfielder to supersport.com.

    Sunshine Stars have failed to win in their last four games including the barren draw against ABS at home soil.

    “We have capable replacements,” the former Under-20 international told supersport.com.

  • Heartland soar to top of League

    Heartland for the first time in recent times have assumed the leadership of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) after the Naze Millionaires secured maximum points at home to Abubakar Bukola Saraki of Ilorin.

    A 34th minute strike off Amarachi Ukaegbu’s well drilled free-kick by the unarguably man-of-the-match, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu catapulted the Owerri-based club to the summit of the league once more after news filtered in that the reigning league leaders, Kano Pillars lost 1-2 to Warri Wolves.

    Heartland soared to the top of the table albeit on goals difference with 22 points. They have +13 goals difference to place higher than Pillars who are on +1 goals difference even though they have same number of points as the Naze Millionaires.

    The chief coach of Heartland Ramson Madu hailed the display of his wards and stressed that the club would not be complacent when they visit Akure to face Sunshine Stars.

    At the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba, the People’s Elephant recovered from their away loss at Bauchi by thumping hitherto second placed Bayelsa United 2-0. Goals from Ayo Saka and Sibi Gwar in the 27th and 31st minute respectively bagged the full points for the Aba Millionaires. Both goals were got in the first half.

    The win increased the Aba Millionaires’ points haul to 19 from 13 games while Bayelsa United are still on 20 points from as many matches.

    At Warri, Wolves put a spanner in the works of Kano Pillars to successfully defend the trophy they won last season after beating the team 2-1.

    Oghenekaro Etebo and Joseph Osadaiye in the 6th and 13th minutes put Warri Wolves in the driver’s seat before Kabiru Umar’s 80th minute strike came too little too late to rescue anything for the team.

    At the Pantami Stadium, Gombe Gombe United got their second win on the trot with another hard- earned 1-0 victory over El Kanemi Warriors. Saleh Madu’s effort delivered three points to the Desert Scorpions as they raced to their season’s best position: third with 21 points from 13 games.

    At the Kaduna Township Stadium, Kaduna United which frittered away series of chances eventually got the match winner from Ali Mohammed in the 62nd minute through a goal mouth scramble.

    Earlier, Lobi Stars’ Tony Okpotu failed to utilise the opportunities presented him. Kaduna United’s lone goal win steered them off the relegation zone.