Ogunbote attributes Aiteo Cup win to half-time pep talk
Enugu Rangers head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote has stated that the Flying Antelopes impressive comeback earlier before the final gave him implicit confidence that they could repeat the magic again against Kano Pillars in the final of the Aiteo Cup played on Wednesday in Asaba.
The Flying Antelopes played poorly in the first half aided by the off-colour performance of Femi Thomas and it was no surprise they were 2-0 at half-time through goals of Rabiu Ali and Alassan Ibrahim in the 5th and 20th minutes.
Sai Masu Gida’s Nyima Nwagua capitalized on Okey Odita and his partner’s terrible defending to net the third goal in the 48th minute but the game turned around when their forceful defenders, Emma Anyanwu and Ifeanyi Nweke were substituted in the second half due to injuries.
Second half substitute, Kelvin Itoya started the renaissance in the 77th minute before Chidera Eze and Ajani Ibrahim got the remaining two goals in the 82nd and 91st minutes to send the game to the penalty shootout which the Flying Antelopes won 4-2.
In his post-match interview, Ogunbote told journalists that he roused his players up at halftime and that he was delighted that they heeded his clarion call with the emphatic comeback.
“I was not surprised that we came back from 3-0 down because our statistics in the competition indicated that we had done that twice already before the final game and I knew that even though we were 3-0 down anything could still happen. I didn’t want us to be 3-0 down. We had careless moments and there was nothing I could do. It
happens in football,” Ogunbote told the media.
“The first goalkeeper (Femi Thomas) is a great goalkeeper the issue was that he switched off against Kano Pillars and once a player had a poor game like that I was thinking we could manage it with being 2-0 down so that we can make use of field players to get the desired goals to level things up but when I realized we could not
we made the necessary change asking Nana Bonsu to replace him.
“I won’t say Kelvin Itoya was our joker. He is one of the players of the team and for some very obvious reasons I bring him in, in games and it has worked for me in the past and I why can’t I continue with it?
“I don’t like it either but when mistakes are made, you have to pay dearly for it and when you paying dearly for it, you have to work harder to make it up.”
Read Also: AITEO Cup: Rangers, Pillars chase history
Rangers have thus ended their 35 years wait for their sixth Federation Cup title having won their fifth in 1983 but the waiting game for Kano Pillars continues after another close loss to the Flying Antelopes just like it was when they were beaten by El Kanemi Warriors 3-2 in the 1991 final.