Kufre Ebong’s 35th minute goal was all Akwa United needed to secure their first win of the 2023-24 football league season beating Gombe United 1-0 to move out of the danger zone on the log.
The Promise Keepers earned three points from their opening five games of the season and were desperately in need of a win to boost their morale after a slow start and coach Fatai Osho named a strong starting eleven against the visitors.
Despite dominating the game throughout, it was Kufre Ebong’s goal off Anthony Anioke’s cross that beat Gombe United’s goalkeeper Itodo Akor in goal to ensure the home side picked the maximum point at stake.
It was a game where Akwa United should have scored more goals but Uche Collins, Edidiong Ezekiel, David Philip, Seyi Oguntayo, Rilwan Sadiq, Said Mubarak and Sunday Williams all saw their efforts saved by Gombe United goalkeeper or go off the target.
In a post-match press conference, head Coach Fatai Osho said he is excited and relieved that his boys finally got it right on the pitch. He noted that the team will build on the success of matchday six going forward.
” It’s a good result for us by all standards. We were not supposed to drop any point especially at home but in the previous two games at home we didn’t win. Today’s game against Gombe United was a bit different because we made some adjustments, there was that aggression in the box and we tried to sustain the pressure. In the end it could have been more than 1-0 but we really appreciate this result.
“At the moment, we are not there yet and we are still working to ensure we get the players at the level they will perform optimally as the season progresses. We are not comfortable with our position, this team doesn’t belong to where we are at the moment so the only thing we need to do is to win our games irrespective of where we play. I believe this is the turn around we needed to get our season going in the right direction“.
With the win, the 2021 league champions have moved up to sixteen (16) position on the league table with six points from a possible eighteen. They have also improved their superior head-to-head record against Gombe United to nine wins, three loses and three draws in their last fifteen meetings leaving the visitors winless in all their eight visits to Akwa Ibom.
Akwa United will play another home match on Sunday November 5, 2023 against Plateau United on Matchday 7 at Eket Stadium billed to kickoff at four O’clock in the afternoon.
