AKURE – The Chairman, Ondo State Football Agency (ODSFA), Akin Akinbobola, on Monday commended the performance of Sunshine Stars FC at the just-concluded first round of the Glo Premier League.
Akinbobola, who was a former Nigerian Premier League Board member, told newsmen in Akure that the performance of the Akure-based team was commendable.
“Considering a lot of events that took place, we will like to thank Almighty God for the journey so far.
“It has been rough and tough but we are able to cope by His grace.
“If we take a look at all that the team went through, then we have no option than to thank all stakeholders.
“Some of the incidents are the accident just few days to the start of the season and the exodus of players,’’ he said.
The ODSFA boss thanked Gov. Olusegun Mimiko for the maximum support, saying there was room for improvement.
He said all machinery would be put in place to realise the ambition of the team this season.
According to Akinbobola, the governor has really been helpful and supportive in all areas.
He said the team was determined to justify the huge investments of Gov. Olukayode Mimiko by doing well this season.
The Chief Coach of Sunshine Stars, Mr Henry Abiodun, also expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team as it finished in the 10th position.
“We have not done badly if you take a look at the points recorded by all the teams.
“The difference between the first team and the 10th team is so small that you would have imagined that a victory for us in our first match of the second round would have taken us to third position.
“So to me, I believe the players should be commended for the journey so far,” Abiodun said.
The coach said the team scored 28 goals in the first round with 10 of the goals scored on away grounds.
According to him, the team also had six draws from 10 away matches.
He said the team failed to score only in two of the four away defeats that it suffered.
Abiodun, who came back from the U.S. to take charge of the team, also thanked the leadership of ODSFA and the state government for their support.
He equally assured of an improved team in the second round.
“We shall work on the defensive aspect of our game as we did not do well in this regard in the first round.
“We were able to score a lot of goals but we also conceded some cheap goals; so we are really looking forward to correcting this aspect of our game,’’ he said. (NAN)