The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Heartland

  • Heartland return to Owerri

    Heartland return to Owerri

    • Vow to roast Kwara United

    After losing two games in a row,Heartland Football Club will return to their traditional home ground,the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri for the match day 24 fixture against Kwara United today.

    Penultimate Monday,the Naze Millionares were humiliated by visiting Shooting Stars of Ibadan 3-1 in a match day 22 game at the Rojenny Stadium,Oba and just last Sunday,the Owerri outfit lost 2-0 to Nasarawa United in Lafia to complete a miserable week for them.

    However, the media officer of Heartland Cajetan Nkwopara who disclosed to SportingLife on phone from his base in Owerri that his team will be hosting  Kwara United at the Dan Anyiam stadium, allayed fears that all was not well in the team

    “We have put behind the two defeats we suffered against Shooting Stars and Nasaraw United.It’s in the past now and we’re targeting  to secure three points against Kwara United”

    Commenting on the circumstances that led to Heartland’s loss at Rojenny against Shooting Stars,Nkwopara revealed that the game against the Oluyole Warriors would have been played in Owerri but it was after the players complained of fatique that it was moved to Rojenny for television coverage.

    “The LMC wanted us to play on Saturday so that the Supersport crew will move to Nnewi on Sunday after televising our game live but the players complained of tiredness because they played two consecutive away games.

    “Because of the players complaints,the LMC decided to move all the games previously scheduled for Owerri and Nnewi to Rojenny stadium,Oba to enable the Supersport crew  beam the two games live.”

    Nkwopara assured the teeming fans of Heartland that their darling team will return to winning ways today when they host embattled Kwara United who equally lost 1-0 at home in Ilorin to Wikki Tourists last Sunday.

  • Heartland still shocked by 3SC loss, says Efugh

    Heartland still shocked by 3SC loss, says Efugh

    HeartlandFC captain Chinedu Efugh has told AfricanFootball.com his team are still shocked after a Week 22 loss to Shooting Stars.
    On Monday, Heartland FC lost 3-1 to Shooting Stars in a rescheduled match at the Rojenny International Stadium, Oba, near Onitsha.
    It was Shooting Stars first win in many years.
    Efugh said ‘The Naze Millionaires’ were unlucky to lose the game which everyone expected them to win.
    “The game just turned against us. We didn’t deserve to lose the game. It was a surprise to me and the entire team that we lost the game like that, it was a game we expected to win,” Efugh told AfricanFootball.com.
    “It’s just hard luck for us. Shooting Stars utilised all their chances to win the game. That’s football for you,” he said.

  • Ogunbote: We beat Heartland, not revenge

    Ogunbote: We beat Heartland, not revenge

    Shooting Stars Sports Club (3sc) head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote has said his side won an away match not revenge at Heartland.

    The Oluyole Warriors defeated hosts, Heartland 3-1 at the resumed Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match day 22 clash yesterday’s at the Rojenny International Stadium in Oba.

    Forward, Tope Orelope scored the match opener for 3SC while Heartland debutant, Fortune Omoniwari even scores before the Ibadan landlords got their two additional goals off the boots of Cletus Itodo and Najeem Olokokun.

    The encounter could not be completed on Sunday due to heavy downpour that made the turf unplayable. The Owerri outfit won 2-1 the first fixture clash at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan.

    Ogunbote said his side played quite well to deserve the hard earned away victory at the expense of the Naze Millionaires.

    “For a very long time 3SC have not won an away match, though people considered the win as revenge but I see it as a game, we won a game not actually revenge.

    “Of course, 3-1 win you must give it to the players to have acquitted themselves quite well in the clash though it’s not yet a 100% perfect side. The equaliser was really unnecessary mistake but I think they did perfectly well to earn the whole three points.

    “We won’t allow the win to get into our heads, we will ask for God’s wisdom to help us manage the immediate success. It’s still a race as we are not yet there, we still need to work even harder to achieve the desired goal,” said the former Sunshine Stars coach to supersport.com.

    The victory at Heartland has shot up the Ibadan warlords total earnings to 32 from possible 66 in the 22-week old top flight.

  • Rain stops Heartland vs 3SC

    Rain stops Heartland vs 3SC

    The heavy rain at the Rojenny Stadium in Oba forced a Week 22 game of the Nigeria league between hosts Heartland and Shooting Stars to be called off.

    The referee, John Inoyo, had to call off the game due to the heavy rain in the 25th minute when the ball could no longer bounce on the pitch.

    Heartland media officer, Cajetan Nwokpara told AfricanFootbal.com that the game will now be played on Monday as the weather was not favourable for good football.

    “The game has been called off and will now continue on Monday at same venue by 9am,” Nwokpara told AfricanFootball.com.

    The rain started when the game was in the nine minutes and it was still goalless when it was called off.

  • Heartland will return to Dan Anyiam stadium, says Nkwopara

    Heartland will return to Dan Anyiam stadium, says Nkwopara

    The Management of Heartland FC of Owerri has assured its fans that the club will resume playing its home matches at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri after the mid-season break.

    Cajetan Nkwopara, the club’s Media Officer, who told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Owerri, noted that even though the club had not lost any match since playing outside the state, they would want to return to their home base in Owerri.

    The League Management Company (LMC) banned the use of the stadium because of dilapidation of the pitch. Heartland now plays its home matches at Rojenny Stadium, Oba, near Onitsha in Anambra State.

    Nkwopara said the stadium went out of use after a series of political programmes held at the stadium in the lead up to the general elections, but added that management had commenced intensive refurbishment work on the pitch.

    “We apologise to all our fans for the development, but we are happy that we have not lost any of our home games, since playing outside the state.

    “Intense renovation work is ongoing at the stadium; we are going to invite the LMC to come and inspect the stadium with a view to lifting the ban on its our club, after the mid- season break.

    “Before then, we will only play two more game outside the state,” he said.

  • Heartland to face Dolphins in Oba

    Heartland to face Dolphins in Oba

    •Port Harcourt side confident of good result

    Heartland FC will face Dolphins today at the Rojenny Stadium, Oba near Onitsha after the League Management Company (LMC) failed to give a favourable verdict to Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri where the Naze Millionaires had wish to face the Port Harcourt side.

    A source informed SportingLife that the LMC visited the Dan Anyiam Stadium to appraise the level of work done on the pitch but the inspection team has yet to officially notify Heartland to return to their base.

    Dolphins’ players and officials arrived Oba on Friday and started serious training ahead of today’s tie while Heartland left yesterday after endless wait for the LMC to ratify the usage of Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri.

    Despite the hiccup noticed ahead of the tie, the Media Officer of the Owerri side, Cajetan Nkwopara told SportingLife that Heartland would be ready to gain all points against Dolphins irrespective of their build up to the encounter.

    Dolphins will be without some of their regular midfielders after Tijani Adamu, Emeka Atuloma left the camp without permission and Isiaka Olawale too has gone missing since their return from the league game with Kano Pillars.

    Victor Alegbe one of the players that went on AWOL has managed to return and plans are underway to impose some form of sanctions on him internally.

    Heartland are sixth on the log with 25 points from 16 games while Dolphins are 18th with 14 points from 16 ties.

  • How proprietor punished Ifeanyi Ubah for losing to Heartland

    How proprietor punished Ifeanyi Ubah for losing to Heartland

    The drama was bizarre in Port Harcourt on Wednesday night after FC Ifeanyi Ubah lost to Heartland in a league game.

    Spectators had already resigned themselves to seeing the points shared when 86th minute, substitute Saibou Badarou headed home Ubido’s free kick. Heartland won the game 1-0 but that was when the drama started.

    As the FC Ifeanyi Ubah players headed to their hotel to pass the night, a call came “from above” that they should proceed to Nnewi that night as punishment to the team for losing a game the boss thought they should win.

    Port -Harcourt based journalist, Jessica Amadi, tweeting from the handle, @Isiokpobabe posted just after the game, “FC Ifeanyi Ubah players and officials are heading back to Nnewi this night simply because they lost their game to Heartland FC #punishment”

    She tweeted a few minutes later, “some of the players refused to join the team heading back and will have N20,000 deducted from their salary according to reports”

    An official of the club who spoke to naijafootball247.com on the condition of anonymity confirmed that they were supposed to spend the night in Port-Harcourt until the phone call came in.

    “That was not the plan. We had paid accommodation fees for the night and were supposed to leave in the morning but the boss called and was angry that we lost the game and said we must leave that night,” the official said.

    “It was to serve as punishment to us because he was angry we lost the game.”

    But having already paid for rooms that night, did they get a refund for the rooms?

    “We didn’t ask for a refund. There was no time to. The order came that we should leave immediately. Besides, which hotel will give you refunds at 7.45pm. But for boss, it was not about the money we had already paid but because he was angry that we lost the game and he wanted to punish us,” the official said.

    FC Ifeanyi Ubah were on a roll until recently when they won 4-1 at Elkanemi.

    Ever since that spectacular win, they have been on a losing spree, 1-0 at home to Wikki Tourists and 1-0 away to Heartland.

  • Raji proud of dumping boastful Heartland

    Raji proud of dumping boastful Heartland

    Giwa FC defender Nojeem Raji says his team’s 2-1 victory over Heartland was purely down to the team’s quest to make the Owerri side’s boastful taunts before the game come to nought.

    There was a lot of hype surrounding the game on the pages of newspapers and social media where Heartland boasted they were coming to Kaduna to nick the points and this did not sit well with the former Enyimba defender.

    “We read how they have been boasting on the pages of newspaper that they were coming to beat us here,” Raji told supersport.com.

    “It was all about showing them football isn’t played on the pages of newspapers but on the field. They taunted us to no ends and we decided collectively to put them to shame and that is what we did.”

    Heartland thought they were on their way to an away win when Bright Ejike scored in the ninth minute for his ninth goal of the season.

    Giwa FC, however, clawed their way back into the game through Ibrahim Shuaibu’s fantastic effort before half time as Amos Gyang Dadung made sure of the points in the 70th minute.

    Raji opined that the victory and the manner it came shows that the team’s placing on the log is no fluke.

    “We have picked maximum points from our two games here in Kaduna. The Heartland game has proven our results are not a fluke. We are not afraid to play anywhere. We’ve picked points on the road and we showed a lot of character to come from behind and beat Heartland.

    “We play for each other and the proprietor of the club, Ambassador Chris Giwa. I hope we can nick a continental slot at the end of the season,” he said.

    With the win against Heartland, Giwa FC stay in fourth on the Nigeria Professional Football League table with 28 points from 16 matches.

  • Heartland target victory against Giwa

    Heartland target victory against Giwa

    Heartland are aiming at continuing with their recent impressive result when they face Giwa FC in Kaduna’s Ahmadu Bello Stadium on Sunday in a

    Glo Premier League Week 16 tie.

    The Naze Millionaires have gone three games without a defeat after they grabbed seven points out of a possible nine from games with FC Taraba, Sharks and FC IfeanyiUbah.

    They are presently fifth with 25 points from 15 games as against Giwa FC who are a step above with 25 points from the same number of matches.

    The Media Officer of the club, Cajetan Nkwopara told SportingLife that the Owerri side want to continue with their unbeaten streak when they play away to Giwa FC in Kaduna on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, Heartland have expressed delight at one of their players, Macmarcel Obioha whose wife gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday in Owerri.

     

  • Giwa, Heartland tie more than points, says Shuaibu

    Giwa, Heartland tie more than points, says Shuaibu

    Giwa FC top scorer, Ibrahim Shuaibu, has said more than the three maximum points are at stake in the clash against Heartland.

    The Tin City side will host the Owerri outfit in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match day 16 clash on Sunday at their adopted home, Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

    Shuaibu said the quest to upstage NPFL leading top scorer and Heartland marksman, Bright Ejike, will be uppermost in his mind in the clash.

    “Beyond the three points to win in the clash there is the personal agenda to upstage Heartland’s Bright Ejike as NPFL top scorer.

    “Ejike leads the goal scorer’s chart on eight goals while I come close second on seven goals so I’m targeting at least, two goals to help me climb to the top chart.

    “I know the race for the top scorer’s gong has just started but I strongly believe that my name will not be missing at the top when a roll call will be made.

    “However, key for us in the match is three points to further improve our position on the league log. I quite understand that Heartland are a good side with some quality players that can ruffle feathers in a match so certain to come out tough.

    “We equally have good players that can match them in any department, we have trained very hard as well as perfected our homework to withstand whatever tricks they may come up with. We are damn prepared and ready to turn them back empty-handed,” said the former Wikki Tourists goal poacher to supersport.com.

    The Jos-based side have amassed a total of 25 points from possible 45 in the 15-week old Nigerian top flight.