By Lexi Elo
Sunshine Stars coach Kennedy Boboye has stressed that the Akure Gunners refuse to throw in the towel in the race for the Nigeria Professional Football League title irrespective of their 2-1 loss against Shooting Stars on Sunday.
Goals from Cletus Itodo and Tope Orelope gave the Oluyole Warriors the points in a tense affair at Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan. Eze Stephen was sent off in the first half before Shooting Stars were awarded a questionable penalty by referee Joseph Ogabor towards the end of the game.
Coach Boboye claimed the decisions that affected Sunshine’s defeat were “not normal”, getting a red card and a wrong penalty call – which ensured they remain winless in their last three games.
“I feel sullen and sad because it was not a deserved win for 3SC. The referee helped them win the game and that is not a good omen for the Nigerian topflight,” Boboye told Goal.
We were expecting a competitive game, but we come here and the referee thought this was a circus for 3SC fans and he killed the match.
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“If he had not sent off my player and awarded that late minute penalty, we could have gotten at worst a draw from here.”
The Akure based outfit are now third in the table, but the soft spoken handler has made it clear they will keep fighting to catch their rivals again right until the end.
“We are never going to give in, we are going to keep battling, be ready to win more games and ensure we don’t make mistakes,” he concluded.
Sunshine Stars host Nasarawa United on Sunday and they would be hoping to revive their bid for their first ever domestic diadem.