Rabiu Tata, Head Coach of Barau FC, has said his promise of taking the club out of relegation remains on course despite their 1–0 defeat to Rivers United in a rescheduled NPFL 2025/2026 Matchday 25 clash at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Omagwa, on Wednesday, 25 February 2026, Completesports.com reports.
Stephen Manyo scored the match-winner for the Pride of Rivers just five minutes before regulation time.
Coach Tata, who masterminded the club’s success in the 2024/2025 Nigeria National League (NNL) Super 8 Play-Offs in Asaba, Delta State, and who returned to his top managerial role following the resignation of Ladan Bosso, said the loss to Rivers United ended his seven-game unbeaten run since returning to the club’s coaching job.
Barau FC Unbeaten Run Ends In Omagwa
Despite the defeat, Coach Tata took pride in his players’ resilience and character in the game, as well as the fact that his club has moved well above the ‘red line’ on the league standings.
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“I thank God Almighty that the boys really played good football today. But it’s very unfortunate that about five minutes to the end we conceded what later turned out to be the only goal of the match,” Tata began just after the final whistle, saying the defeat was caused by “loss of concentration”.
“I can call it ‘loss of concentration’ because the defenders left an unmarked player at the edge of our 18-yard box and that caused us this defeat, which really pains. Today, we’ve lost all three points.
“This is the eighth match we’ve gone through and it’s so unfortunate that today we lost all three points. I’ll continue to appreciate my players for the great work they’ve done so far.”
Barau Climb Out Of Relegation Zone
Coach Tata took over the coaching job with Barau FC in 19th position on the table, deeply rooted in the ‘red zone’, but has steered the team to 14th position at the close of Matchday 27 games.
“I took over this team in the second stanza of this 2025/2026 NPFL season (with the club in 19th position) and the players have given a good response and shown good character in the games that we’ve played so far.
“We’re not down because we’ve lost today. If you look at it, all hopes were already lost by Rivers United but at the end of the day, God was on their side and they got the three points.
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“Yes, I must say the boys played perfectly to instruction and they showed character. When a team doesn’t show character, they can’t last until that time that we conceded that goal. They showed a lot of character and we’ll continue to work hard so that we can also take our chances in any game.
Tata Targets More Points For Barau FC
“If you look at the game today, we had a far greater chance towards the end of the game before Rivers United got their chance, which they converted.
“Theirs was not even a clear-cut chance per se, but the player used his head very well to put the ball into the net.
The one we had was very close. It was a face-to-face situation with the goalkeeper from a two-to-one situation and it was a very clear chance for him to put the ball into the net.
“My first priority when I took over this team in the second stanza was to bring Barau FC out from the ‘red zone’ of the league table. I told the media in Kano that within seven games, I would bring Barau FC out from the ‘red zone’ of the league table. And today, we are out of that danger zone despite the fact that we lost today.
“Now we’re 14th on the log. So we’re going home to work hard to ensure we get our three points against Plateau United. As for the unbeaten run, we’ll continue to do much better than what we’ve done so far.
“Today, most people thought this match was going to be a push-over. But it never turned out to be a push-over. We’ll work harder to get a better placing on the log when the season comes to an end. That’s our objective for now.”
By Sab Osuji
