Head coach of Rivers United Stanley Eguma has stated that his team deserved the draw they picked away from home in a Nigeria Professional Football League game played match day 10 fixture against Bendel Insurance at the University of Benin Sports complex on Wednesday.
The home side took the lead in the 13th minute through Ugwu Michael with a superb header after a beautiful cross was delivered into the area by winger Kingsley Onovo but the home side was pegged back in the 49th minute of the encounter after Ossy Martins tapped in from close range after goalkeeper David Walbe fumbled Kehinde Adedipe’s shot from outside the area.
Reacting to the game Eguma insisted that his team deserved the point point they picked on the road. “As far as I am concerned the two sides played a very good game and I am not surprised about the result because we actually came to win and I think a draw is good for us.”
Home side Bendel Insurance was denied a last minute goal as the referee correctly adjudged that goalkeeper Bamba Drissa was infringed upon in his box before the late minute goal.
Rivers United goalkeeper Bamba Drissa kept his team in the game with eye catching saves and Eguma has praised his shot stopper for a good job. “He did well, I think he has been a good goalkeeper and he has been keeping right from the start of the season he also isn’t new to the terrain. He is an Ivorian and he has been playing in the Nigerian league for a while now so his performance in the match was not a surprise to me. I expected him to do what he did today and he did it well.”
The coach has also praised the character of the team in getting another point away from home despite some of the challenges they face in the first half of the game. “I think our game plan worked out. Even though we expected to win, in the first half we tried to understand the pitch. The turf was not really comfortable for us but when we had understood the texture of the pitch we came out in the second half, swung into attack and got the goal and almost at the end of the game because of the attacks we had to go back to defending and thankfully we got a draw.”
With the result Rivers United sits 5th on the group A abridged league table with 10 points after seven games.
