It
has just got to be a win for Kano Pillars tomorrow when they take on
northern rivals Gombe United tomorrow in the week 26 match-up of the
Nigeria Premier League. A win because that is the only way they can
keep the pressure on Enyimba, who are ahead by just two points, and
they can pull away from Kwara United who are tied on points with them.
A win will take them to the top, at least till Enyimba play Sharks on Sunday in Aba.
While it could look
easy for Pillars on paper, considering that they have defeated every
team that has come to Kano this season, except for the draw with the
League’s defending champions, Bayelsa United, last December. However,
how they will cope without their main firepower remains to be seen.
Ahmad Musa, the League’s top scorer with 14 goals, has joined the Super
Eagles Team B for the African Nations Championships (CHAN) qualifier
against Niger in Kano on Sunday, while they will also be without
Solomon Okpako, the versatile midfielder who is also with the national
team. If they slip up in Kano on Saturday they might regret letting
former star, Bello Korfamata, join Heartland of Owerri.
But all considered,
it doesn’t look like there are going to be any upsets on Saturday.
Gombe’s away record have been anything but impressive. They have lost
10 out of 12 away matches, with such an abysmal record against Pillars,
they stand no chance. But in the first meeting this season, Pillars
crashed at Gombe by two-nil. Both sides have clashed thrice in Kano,
but the only time Gombe got any result was the 1-1 they got November
2005 at the Sani Abacha Stadium.
Gateway looking at the exit
In other matches
for Saturday, all eyes will be on Gateway of Abeokuta, or is it Ilaro?
Toyin Ayinla will get his baptism of fire, after the Loveday
Omoruyi-led Gateway technical crew was given the boot last week for
poor performance.
Ayinla, “a son of
the soil” of defunct Abiola Babes fame, has a lot on his hand with
getting a team rooted at the bottom, with trap door to division 1
already opened to them, out of relegation trouble. This is not the
first time Toyin Ayinla is handling a team at the top flight. He once
did so when the Swede’s coach of Kwara United went AWOL. As the
assistant, he handled the team until he was sacked at the end of the
season, despite the good job he did. Then he handled a team that has a
tradition of wanting to win, as opposed to the Gateway team that all
their years in the top flight has been about fighting relegation.
But it does look as
if his first day at work might be “football made easy by weak
opposition”, going by the fact that the Ranchers Bees they will be
sizing up on Saturday has not won on the road this season, and it
doesn’t look like that might change at Ilaro tomorrow. All their ten
matches on the road were lost, so it is almost a certainty Ayinla will
open his stint with a win. But the big question his: will he steer the
Abeokuta side out of relegation with 12 matches to go?
In the other match
of the day, the defending champion, though not worthy of the name at
the moment, take on title chasing Rangers of Enugu at the Samson Siasia
Stadium. If anything, it is Rangers that needs the result most. Last
Sunday, their title hope was dealt a severe blow when they played to a
goalless draw with Lobi Stars in front of their home fans. With 39
points, nine more than Bayelsa, they are in the fourth position tied
with Niger Tornadoes on points. So anything short of a win, the Enugu
side is out of the top four.
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