Football
Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 6y

NPFL Matchday 11: Hot talking points

Junior Lokosa's red-hot form steered Kano Pillars to yet another victory, Sunday Rotimi led a posse of players who saw red, and Heartland's slide continued apace with a home loss in a breathless weekend of NPFL action.

Here are the three hot talking points from the weekend's action.

Lokosa's goals keep on coming

It appears everything that Junior Lokosa touches turns to goal.

The 22-year-old Kano Pillars forward struck goal number 10 of the season so far to help Pillars to a 2-0 victory over Go Round FC in Kano.

That is incredibly blistering form for the youngster, who has tallied this run of goals in just 11 games. Barring injury, or a catastrophic loss of form, he would certainly be on track to eclipse Moon Udoh's league scoring record of 23 goals.

With Lokosa scoring, Pillars extended their league unbeaten streak to eight games.

Overall, they have only lost once this season -- to Rivers United in Port Harcourt -- leaving them so far with five wins and five draws.

They also hold the best away record in the division, with Lokosa's goals central to their success.

Pillars move back to top spot with Plateau United involved in continental exertions this weekend.

Relentless red cards

Rivers United goalkeeper Sunday Rotimi only recently returned to the starting line up after recovering from an injury which kept him out for the better part of last season and early part of the current campaign.

Usually a quiet but domineering figure, Rotimi stepped out of character to make a rash, desperate lunge at FC Ifeanyi Ubah's Pascal Seka, earning himself a strait red card, and his costing his side a penalty.

Onyekachi Chidume duly despatched the spot kick, leaving Rivers United staring down the barrel at home. However, the drama was far from over, and with 10 minutes of play left, Ifeanyi Ubah's Sadiq Abdulrazak followed Rotimi down the tunnel after picking up a second bookable offence.

Two minutes after that sending of, Oche Salifu volleyed in an exquisite effort to draw the sides level, and Osita Chikere was denied by the visiting goalkeeper.

That was no to be the end of the red card drama.

In Lafia, Wikki Tourists' Bala Zaka saw red for an elbow on Nasarawa United's Suleiman Mohammed, with the latter going on to score the lone winner in the second half

Sunshine still suffering from player restrictions

Sunshine Stars are enduring the consequences of their inability to field players signed by the club recently.

Owena Waves came from behind to draw 1-1 at home to Rangers, but are still floating too close to the relegation places.

Some officials claim the result is due to fatigue, as Stars have been unable to register many of their newly signed players owing to restrictions placed on the club by the LMC for their indebtedness to previous players and officials.

Earlier this season, Sunshine did not have enough players to fill up their substitute quota, and only turned up to play Plateau United with 11 players.

They claimed victory over Champions League campaigners MFM in midweek, and were looking to make it a second win on the spin when Rangers came calling.

However, coach Duke Udi insists that it's impossible for his players to win matches considering their current physical state.

"I am feeling terribly bad at the moment," Udi told journalists. "I will prepare a team all week to play a league match only to be told by management that certain players are not eligible due to sanctions from the LMC."

^ Back to Top ^