MFON PATRICK
Head Coach of Akwa United Kennedy Boboye has said that he is not disappointed by his team’s performance at the 2021 Akwa Ibom State Football Association Super 4 Pre-season Tournament in-which the Nigeria Professional Football League Champions Akwa United finished second on inferior goal difference behind champions Ibom Youth FC.
Both Ibom Youth FC and Akwa United ended the tournament on five points each after picking up one win and two draws in three group games, but NNL side Ibom Youth FC emerged champions having scored more goals than the Promise Keepers.
Akwa United opened their campaign with a 1-0 victory over FC One Rocket, before being held to a goalless draw by Ibom Youth FC and Dakkada FC in a competition that was played In a round robin format.
Champions Ibom Youth FC were presented with a gold-plated trophy and also received the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (N=500,000.00), Akwa United pocketed the sum of Three Hundred Thousand Naira Only (N=300,000.00) while Third-placed team Dakkada FC received a cash prize of Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only (N=200,000.00)
Assessing his team’s performance, Coach Boboye said his target was to further strengthen his team and also emphasized that he will improve on all the observed lapses before the commencement of the new football season.
“The just concluded pre-season tournament gave us a wonderful opportunity to assess our team ahead of the new football season. It would have been nice if we had won the tournament but the chief essence why we competed was to have a good look at our team in competitive games.
“Some of the players we fielded during the tournament are joining us newly and we also gave opportunities to some of our fringe players from last season. So I’m not disappointed by the outcome of our matches but one thing is certain that we are going to improve on all the weak areas we have observed from those three matches.
“One thing is certain, before the start of the new league season, we will fortify our team for a successful title defense”.
Pending when the new football league season will kickoff, the Promise Keepers will continue to engage in top pre-season friendlies.
