Ilechukwu: Rangers getting back to good shape after defeating Abia Warriors in Enugu

Rangers international of Enugu head coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu says his men have started getting back to good shape following their impressive display in the 1-0 defeat of Oriental brothers, Abia warriors Sunday at the Nnamdi Azikwe stadium in Enugu in a Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, match week five fixture.

Kazeem Ogunleye’ thunderbolt of a free kick from over twenty-five yards on 59 minutes earned the reigning NPFL champions the full points.

Ilechukwu handed starts to the squad that defeated Bayelsa United on Thursday with the exception of the trio of Lucky Abdullahi, Bashir Usman and Nenrot Silas with their places taken up by Japhet Opubo, Okafor Onyekachi and Isaac Saviour in a 4-4-2 formation that saw Chiedozie Okorie and Okafor Onyekachi leading the attack.

Twice in the first period, the visitors had the upright to thank as on 9 minutes, Chiedozie Okorie agonizingly saw his effort crash onto the cross bar after a mix-up at the visitors’ back while Onyekachi Okafor watched in awe as his scrambled effort off an Evans Ogbonda’ inch perfect cross came off the upright on 24 minutes to the relief of the traveling fans.

At the start of the second period, coach Fidelis Ilechukwu pulled out Chinemerem Ugwueze for new kid-on-the-block, Silas Nenrot and switched to a 4-3-3 pattern of play which to a very large extent pushed back the visitors into their defensive shells.

Six minutes into the second stanza, the home fans and bench went into celebration mood after Chiedozie Okorie connected with a diving header an Evans Ogbonda’ cross after some neat interchange of passes saw Nenrot release the left-back but the celebrations was cut shot as the effort was chopped off for a possible offside play.

Eight minutes later, there was no stopping the fans from going on wild jubilations as Ogunleye exquisitely fired an unstoppable free kick past the hands of Ali Ishaku from over 25 yards after goal bound Effimi Nsi was fouled.

‘It was a big game, and our performance today shows that our team have started coming up. I know that Abia Warriors prepared very well for this game, and I am happy we won the match.

‘Coach Imama Amapakabo is a top coach with good mentality and this we saw today in his team’s play but we had our game play, and it worked very well though we could have scored a couple of more goals. We need to build on this win going forward,’ Ilechukwu said in a post-match interview.

With the win, Rangers now have 10 points from five matches and will next play Sunshine Stars in a match day 6 fixture at the Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.