Abia Warriors Head Coach, Imama Amapakabo, says his team’s emphatic 5-1 thrashing by Katsina United in Saturday’s NPFL matchday 34 clash is a “wake-up call” for his side, Completesports.com reports.
The top-three contenders suffered their worst defeat of the campaign at the hands of struggling Katsina United in a six-goal thriller at the Mohammed Bako Stadium.
Bello Lukman scored twice for Katsina United, while Mubarak Said, Nura Abdulbari, and Ahmed Taofeek also found the net for the Chanji Boys. Anthony Ijoma netted the consolation goal for Abia Warriors, taking his season tally to 11 goals.
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The heavy defeat dropped Abia Warriors to fourth place, with Ikorodu City moving up to third on goal difference—both teams are tied on 53 points.
Amapakabo did not mince words in his post-match remarks, stating that it is not unusual for a team to concede five goals, especially when certain things are not done right during a game.
Recall that Ikorodu City had previously thrashed Katsina United 6-0 in a matchday 31 fixture on April 11.
“I think this 5-1 defeat by Katsina United today is a wake-up call for my team,” said Amapakabo, who led Enugu Rangers to the NPFL title in the 2015/2016 season.
“Wake-up call in the sense that it’s not over until it’s really over.
“With four games to go, like I always say, we just have to keep our heads firmly on our shoulders and work hard.”
Responding to questions on why his team collapsed unexpectedly, Amapakabo cited pitch conditions and weather as contributing factors.
“One of the things I always try to do as a human being, not just as a coach, is avoid making excuses for defeat. But there were a lot of things that went wrong today,” he said.
“Even the dustiness of the pitch was a factor, not to mention playing at 3 o’clock here in Katsina where we all know how harsh the weather can be. But would that have changed the outcome?
“The key thing is there are big lessons to take from this game.
“I’ll take it in and learn from it. Another thing is, my players coming to play on an astro-turf pitch in this kind of weather should have come with better boots.
“The Katsina United players are not from Europe. They’re also Nigerians and played under the same conditions. So we should have coped better. It’s a lesson learnt.”
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Reflecting further on the defeat—Abia Warriors’ heaviest of the season—Amapakabo labelled the experience a “sad day” for the club.
He added: “It’s a sad day for the team. Individually, technically, and tactically, we didn’t get it right. There were off-the-pitch issues as well that we need to review.
“You don’t come to play a team and fail to show them the respect they deserve. I think the results we had before this match made my team believe it was going to be a walk in the park.
“But it’s always tough when you concede two goals in under a minute and a half. We tried to recover, but we made too many technical and tactical errors. We got punished for every one of them.
“Kudos to Katsina United. I hope they keep pushing on like this. Some people thought they were a bad team after they conceded six goals against Ikorodu City. But we’ve now conceded five here.
“In the Nigerian league, you can be punished heavily if you don’t get a lot of things right in a game. We didn’t do much right today—technically and tactically. We got it wrong and were duly punished.”
By Sab Osuji
