The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sunshine

  • Dolphins new boy, Obinze excited over Sunshine win

    Dolphins new boy, Obinze excited over Sunshine win

    Dolphins’ new boy, Godwin Obinze could not   hide his excitement after Wednesday’s 1-0 win in Port Harcourt against Sunshine Stars.

    Dolphins laboured and finally got their breakthrough in the 55th minute when full back, Jonathan Zikiye curled a free kick over the wall and beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.

    “I am happy with this win because I see my football career as starting with Dolphins,” the former Yobo Academy player said.

    “I have had three games so far, a draw, a loss and this win so I cannot hide my excitement. In fact I feel like taking off my shirt screaming and running away,” Obinze exclaimed.

    But Godbless Asamoah got the first clear cut chance to put Dolphins up as early as the 16th minute when he rose highest to head a cross from Chigozie Ihunda but missed the target by inches.

    At the half hour mark, Oghogho Oduokpe was freed by an Isiaka Olawale pass but his shot sailed wide off the mark.

    It was not all about Dolphins in the first half as the visitors had a chance to open scores in the 38th minute when a seemingly harmless attempt was spilled by Sunday Rotimi but Musa Newman blasted the rebound wide off the mark.

    In the last 10 minutes, it was all about Sunshine Stars but a mixture of profligacy, clumsy attacking and luck ensured that the score line remained 1-0.

    Sunshine Stars coach, Kennedy Boboye said after the game that his side came to Port Harcourt to get a win or draw but were unlucky.

    “Dolphins did well, but we came here for a win or draw. We missed some chances but that’s football,” Boboye said.

  • Boboye: Sunshine will be champs

    Boboye: Sunshine will be champs

    Sunshine Stars coach, Kennedy Boboye has expressed  satisfaction with the win against his former club, Sharks and said he had to put emotions to one side to achieve the result.

    Charles Aggrey and Tunde Adeniji scored  in the match day 21 contest decided at the Akure Township Stadium.

    “Sharks is the club that brought me to limelight (Boboye played for and coached Sharks earlier in his career). It was not a pleasant experience (watching Sharks lose) but I am a professional so I had to do what I had to do, to help Sunshine Stars win and return to the top of the standings,” Boboye told supersport.com.

    The trainer also believes it will be foolhardy for anyone to write off his side’s title credentials at this stage of the season.

    Kunle Odunlami, Tamen Medrano, Paul Onobi, Stephen Eze, Dele Olorundare, Dayo Ojo, Prince Aggrey, Tunde Adeniji and goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa have been doing impressive things this season for the Akure Gunners and Boboye believes that will be crucial at the business end of the campaign.

    “With the calibre of players at my disposal and the amount of hard work we put in in training, I am sure we will play on the continent next season. We also just don’t want to earn a continental ticket but we want to win the league title,” he said.

    Sunshine Stars currently top the 20-team NPFL standings with 39 points from 21 matches.

  • Sunshine Stars reclaim top spot

    Sunshine Stars reclaim top spot

    Sunshine Stars are back on top of the Nigeria league table after a 2-0 win over Sharks at the Akure Township stadium on Thursday.

    Sunshine now have 39 points from 21 games, a point ahead of second-placed Enyimba.

    Prince Aggreh opened the scoring for the hosts in the 10th minute.

    Tunde Adeniji after a series of misses doubled Sunshine’s lead in the 68th minute to take his goals’ haul to 12.

    Sunshine created several chances in this match which was rescheduled because they were involved in a car accident.

    In the 20th minute, Adeniji connected a cross but his effort sailed over the bar with only the goalkeeper to beat.

    In the 25th minute, Dele Olorundare missed another glorious opportunity to double the home team’s lead.

    Prince Aggreh was denied a brace in the 38th minute as he shot crashed against the goal post.

  • Sunshine want to make history, says Eduwo

    Sunshine want to make history, says Eduwo

    Sunshine Stars forward Kingsley Eduwo has told AfricanFootball.com they are fired up to win the Nigeria league for the first time in the history of the Akure club.

    ‘The Akure Gunners’ have come very close on several occasions to be champions, but they are yet to crack it.

    The former Shooting Stars striker, who was among the goals on Sunday when Sunshine Stars beat Bayelsa United 2-0 to stay on top of the league, said they will not relent in their efforts to be champions at the end of the season.

    “Our target is to win the league and by the grace of God, we will,” Eduwo told AfricanFootball.com.

    “We have come this far due to good trainings, tactics and talented players. We are all motivated to make history by winning the league which will be the first time in the club history. We won’t relent.”

    The Flying Eagles invitee has scored twice this season for the league leaders, who have recorded 33 points from 17 matches, a point ahead of closest rivals Wikki Tourists.

  • Sunshine eye three points against Bayelsa

    Sunshine eye three points against Bayelsa

    With hopes of a domestic diadem still burning brightly, Sunshine Stars’ next match comes against rivals Bayelsa United in the Nigeria Professional Football League today at the Akure Township Stadium

    Kennedy Boboye’s men have enjoyed a productive month, with last week’s 1-1 draw at Lobi Stars three days after pegging down Akwa United 3-1 at the Akure Township Stadium – but are tied atop the NPFL with Enyimba on points.

    Tunde Adeniji scored against Lobi – taking his season tally to seven – and the forward appears to be finally hitting his straps after a quiet start to life in Akure.

    Bayelsa United come into this game in a buoyant mood after taming Warri Wolves to move steps up the relegation zone, though they are still three points from the sinking ground.

    The Akure Gunnesr have not dropped a point at home this season but 90 minutes will decide if they can cage the visitors who boast of the away record in the league.

    Coach Ogenyi is likely to make changes as to the team who bowed 2-1 to Ifeanyi Ubah FC during the week as they hope to avoid a defeat at home..

  • Sunshine chase ex-U23 star Francis Ikechukwu

    Sunshine chase ex-U23 star Francis Ikechukwu

    Sunshine Stars are in the front seat in the race to land former Nigeria U23 striker Francis Ikechukwu.

    The much-travelled forward told AfricanFootball.com that some NPFL teams are in contact with him but he may ink a deal with Sunshine Stars.

    “There are interests from some Nigeria league clubs to sign me, I have decided to play in Nigeria league for some time before I get good deal in Europe,” Ikechukwu disclosed.

    “But I have to pick the one best for me, many teams have called me and we are still talking. One of them is Sunshine, Giwa FC too approached me.”

    The former Ahli Shendy of Sudan hit man quit Algerian club ASP Chlef due to unpaid wages of €224,000 being his sign-on fee and three months’ salary.

  • Sunshine Stars stay top, Giwa slip at home

    Sunshine Stars stay top, Giwa slip at home

    Sunshine Stars remained top of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) table after Week 9 round of matches on Sunday.

    Sunshine Stars drew 1-1 in Lafia with home team Nasarawa United to have 17 points from nine games.

    Seun Sogbeso opened the scoring in Lafia for Nasarawa United from the penalty spot in the 45th minute after Sunshine Stars goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa brought down Mannir Ubale inside the 18- yard box and was booked by the referee.

    In the 66th minute,Kingsley Eduwo equalised for Sunshine off Prince Aggreh’s pass.

    In Jos, Giwa FC failed to reclaim the top spot after they drew goalless at the Rwang Pam Stadium with FC Taraba.

    The Jos club are now third on the table with 15 points.

  • Olorundare comes clean over Sunshine contract saga

    Olorundare comes clean over Sunshine contract saga

    Sunshine stars striker Dele Olorundare has opened up on his botched move to Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan after the Ondo state owned club did not sanction his release from the Akure Gunners.

    In an interview with www.footballlive.ng Olorundare said that he has no hard feeling towards the club as he really didn’t want to leave Sunshine stars but that the club failed to meet his personal demand for a pay rise which Shooting stars was willing to meet hence the reason to leave the club. The player has since returned to Sunshine stars.

    ”My club did not release me and it wasn’t my intention to leave the club at any point, I even had plans of kicking off the season with them.

    ”It was just unfortunate we couldn’t reach an agreement on personal terms. I expected a wage increase but they refused to and that was the factor.”

  • Gold Cup Pre-Season Tournament: Sunshine, 3SC, Sharks, Prime, others listed

    Gold Cup Pre-Season Tournament: Sunshine, 3SC, Sharks, Prime, others listed

    Allis set for the second edition of Gold Cup Pre-Season Tournament as clubs have confirmed their participation.

    The defending champion Sunshine Stars International Football Club of Akure, will engage seven other clubs in Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Nigeria National League (NNL) and Nigeria Nation-wide League (NNWL) in a 9-day soccer fiesta.

    The championship which will take place at Otunba Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu Ode between January 29 and February 6, will feature Sunshine Stars, Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan, Sharks FC of Port Harcourt, Prime FC of Oshogbo, Kogi United FC of Lokoja, First Bank FC of Lagos, FC Ebedei and Rising Stars FC of Ondo.

    According to the General Coordinator of the tournament, Tunde Shamsudeen, said grouping of the eight teams have been made as thus; Group A FC Ebedei, Sunshine Stars, Kogi Utd, aand First Bank. While Group B drawn Shooting Stars, Prime FC, Rising Stars and Sharks FC.

    He noted that the teams are expected to play 3 group matches with the first two teams with highest number of points qualify for the semi-finals.

    “The tournament will be of high level and is basically to ignite the spirit of the game and to also help the teams test their players before the league season proper,” Shamsudeen said.

  • Sunshine Stars hook ex-Eaglets

    Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) club Sunshine Stars have signed up two former Golden Eaglets players, Kingsley Udoh and Kabiru Akinsola.

    Both players were the part of the 2007 setup of the Nigerian under-17s which won the FiIFA Under-17 World Cup in South Korea.

    Akinsola and Udoh join the Akure Gunners as free agents. Udoh was released by Nigerian champions Kano Pillars after last season. The terms of their contracts, however, remain undisclosed.

    Sunshine Stars have also signed Crown FC captain Segun Ayo for the coming season. Also joining the Akure club are Tope Olusesi and Musa Kundi.

    The NPFL outfit have also added to the number of their foreign players by hooking Chaona Mohammed from 12-time Benin Republic champions AS Dragons FC, according to the club’s spokesman, Wahab Bankole.

    The Ondo State Football Agency, which manages Sunshine Stars, has already named Englishman Paul Ashworth as technical director to head the coaching crew at the NPFL club as well as at lower division side Rising Stars and the women’s club, Sunshine Queens.

    “The foreign Coach (Ashworth) is expected to head the technical and coaching departments of the agency and will also be responsible for training and re-training of all coaches under the charge of the agency in addition to the involvement in the exposure and marketing of players under the charge of the agency,” stated Bankole on Tuesday.

    The Akure club will also keep 25 of the players who were part of their campaign last season.

    Among them are Kunle Odunlami, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Abe Sunday, Dayo Ojo, Tunde Adeniji, Seun Olulayo, Dele Olorundare, Alaba Adeniyi, Newman Musa, Ajani Ibrahim, Tamen Medrano, Prince Aggreh and Eze Stephen.

    Sunshine Stars finished outside of the top-10 of the NPFL last season with 53 points.