After a heart-warming Match Day 24 draw away to Kano Pillars, Bayelsa United playing at home could not rise to the occasion to defeat visiting Rangers International of Enugu. The match ended in a barren draw.
Bayelsa United Technical Adviser, Ladan Bosso blamed his players inability to take their chances as reason for the barren score line.
Bosso said if his wards had taken the glaring chances which they created, especially in the first half of the game, they would have gotten at least one goal.
According to him, "The real issue for me is that the players should be able to take their chances as early as possible. If the players had taken their chances, which were available in the first half, they would have had one or two goals".
The missed opportunities by his players was not the only thing Coach Bosso was not happy about; the Bayelsa United gaffer was also not impressed with the level of officiating.
His wards scored a goal in the second half of the game but the centre referee ruled it as offside. Bosso said the disallowed goal was a rebound, with Rangers keeper having the last touch of the ball, and wondered how such could be an offside goal.
"We planned to secure all three points and somehow, we did, but the officials thought otherwise. The rules of offside are very clear. You can't adjudge a player to be offside in the event of a rebound. The ball, from which we got our goal, which was disqualified, was last touched by the opposition goalkeeper. So why was the goal cancelled"? he asked rhetorically.
Conversely, Rangers International Chief Coach, Ekeh Ekenedilichukwu said it was a good game and he was satisfied with the result at the end of the game.
According to him, "It was a high intensity, disciplined game. Both sides played wonderfully well but at the end of the day, it ended goalless.
"To come all the way from Enugu to pick a draw against a side like Bayelsa United is not easy. My boys put in their best, they tried converting their chances, but the goals didn't come. Some days are like that. That is what happens in football; you just have to accept it. The game was very ok and I am satisfied with the outcome".
Earlier in the game, hosts Bayelsa United and Enugu Rangers International had to settle for a draw.
The home side put up a determined performance but could not breach the resilient Flying Antelopes' well-knit defence line.
United had a good chance in the 9th minute of play but Jawad Mustapha shot wide. The home side had another opportunity in the 27th minute but Yahaya Ibrahim ballooned the ball off target.
Rangers had an early substitution, with jersey No. 6 coming in for 27. A long range shot from Yahaya in the 33rd minute of play did not pose any problem for the Rangers keeper. Kehinde Malik managed a shot on target but it was saved by Rangers keeper.
As the time dragged on, Rangers players, seeing the possibility of an away draw, resorted to time wasting, particularly their keeper who fell and feigned injury with any contact he made with the opposing players.
Bayelsa United, hungry for a goal threw everything into the game and piled pressure on the visitors but it all amounted to nought. In the twilight of the encounter, Eyong Nneoyi scored but the goal was disallowed.
The game thereafter dragged on lazily and uneventfully till the end. Even with a hefty nine minutes added time, the game remained goalless with both sides sharing the spoils.
It was indeed a long and frustrating evening for Bayelsa United supporters who had throned the Samson Siasia Stadium in their numbers )hoping for a win to improve on their position on the log.
Bayelsa United will look to return to winning ways in their next fixture against Kwara United, while Enugu Rangers will aim to build on this result when they take on Remo Stars.
In some other matches decided on Sunday Akwa United defeated Enyimba FC by two goals to one; Abia Warriors were 3-0 better against Sunshine Stars FC while Rivers United FC ran away with a 1-0 win against Lobi Stars FC. Niger Tornadoes and Plateau United settled for a 1-1 draw.
