Abia Warriors Head Coach, Imama Amapakabo, has expressed confidence that the club’s maiden continental football ambition remains intact, despite their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Enyimba in Sunday’s ‘Abia Derby’ in Aba, Completesports.com reports.
Abia Warriors raced into an early lead after Anthony Ijoma headed in from Sunday Megwo’s cross from the right.
Kalu Nweke levelled for Enyimba with a stunning volley into the top corner from 25 yards out, as both teams went into the half-time break on equal footing.
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Enyimba took the lead for the first time in the gritty contest when Joseph Atule fired home from a tight angle with his left foot, with 23 minutes left to play.
The nine-time champions resorted to game management to protect their advantage. The Amapakabo-led side increased their urgency but lacked the cutting edge in the final third, missing several scoring opportunities. Indeed, Abia Warriors’ forwards must look themselves in the mirror and ask what went wrong.
Responding to questions on whether the defeat had derailed Abia Warriors’ continental hopes, Coach Amapakabo, a former junior international goalkeeper, said no — insisting their target remains intact and achievable.
“Every team has a chance of getting to the continent. When you say ‘setback’ to our continental hope, like I said, before this game, we had 21 points to play for,” said Amapakabo, an NPFL title-winning coach with Rangers in the 2015/2016 season.
“Now we’ve 18 (points to play for). We already have 50 points. Every team can dream. So, let’s see where these 18 points will take us. We’ll continue to work hard, keep pushing, and see at the end of the remaining six games where it leads.”
Amapakabo admitted his players were not clinical in the final third despite consistently breaking through Enyimba’s defence.
“I think we lost this game in our offensive third,” Amapakabo said. “We were lacking in that area overall.
“In the first half, we anticipated doing something different. We noticed they came with a different tactical setup. We had to reorganise and restrategise, but unfortunately, we were not clinical in front of goal — and that was our greatest undoing this evening.”
He acknowledged that Abia Warriors were punished for their wastefulness.
He added: “Like I told the players before the game, this is just one of seven matches we’ve left to play. Now, three points are gone. We’ve 18 points to play for.
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“We’re still in the race. We’ll chase it and run as fast as we possibly can. So, let’s see how it goes. Kudos to the boys — they gave it their all. I think in terms of goal creation, we had the better chances, but unfortunately, we lost to two strikes from outside the box.
“We’ll go back, review the game, and then prepare for Rivers United, which is our next match.”
“We had more chances. I think we had more goal attempts in this game than they did. In games like this, you can’t keep wasting chances, because if you do, you get punished — one way or the other.
“I don’t think they had the better chances. Their two goals came from long-range shots. We created more and were more active in their box, but unfortunately, this is football. If you don’t take your chances, you get punished.”
Abia Warriors remain third in the NPFL standings with 50 points after matchday 32.
By Sab Osuji
