Green Lock FC were the cynosure of all eyes on Monday afternoon in their Match Day 2 fixture of the ongoing NLO Cup at the Sani Abacha stadium, Kano.
The Abuja based outfit which trailed the home side in the first half of the game, came from a goal down to overturn the deficit against Kwankwasiya FC in a spectacular fashion in the second half.
Three glaring chances missed by Green Lock FC in the early minutes of the match did not deter the team from putting up a spirited performance against Kwankwasiya FC. Damilola Adeyeye was the first to miss a clear chance from the edge of the box with a weak shot in the 2nd minute of the game.
7 minutes later, Israel Amodu who puts up a sterling performance, weaved through two markers to link up with forward Philips Onyedika, who in turn sends in a low cross but unfortunately Enoch Eneche arrived late and the ball went wide across the face of goal.
A swift interplay between Damilola Adeyeye and Philip Onyedika in the 15th minute led to a goal but was chalked off by the center referee for an offside.
The feisty affair continued, luckily for Kwankwasiya FC, they had to capitalized on the flat footed center pair of Green Lock FC defenders to score their opener in the 29th minute, as the game ended 1-0 in favor of the home team at break time.
Second half substitute, Usman Mustapha changed the complexion of the game as his introduction rejuvenated the attack, making him a thorn in the flesh of his opponent and a constant threat down the right hand side of the pitch.
Green Lock FC players were more resolute and kept asking many questions at goal mouth searching for an equalizer, the breakthrough finally came when center back, Bright Umeh who wore a man of the match performance as he sends in a through ball to Enoch Eneche who without hesitation finished it off nicely despite being in the midst of a packed defense to make it 1-1 in the 67th minute.
Philips Onyedika won the match for Green Lock FC in the 75th minute, as he twisted and turned his marker inside out to slot in the ball beyond the goalkeepers reach to hand a deserved 2-1 win to his team at regulation time.
With this, Green Lock FC tops Group 1B with maximum 6 points from two matches at the Kano Center of the ongoing NLO Cup 2023. The team will face FC Sheika on Tuesday afternoon to ascertain their true status as the competitions.
Pius Idoko (Media Officer, Green Lock FC)
