Lobi Stars of Makurdi kicked off their campaign in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season with a barren draw against Akwa United in the last fixture of Matchday 1 played on Monday at the Lafia Township Stadium.
In the match of the former Nigerian champions, Lobi Stars playing under a new board which was constituted by the Benue State government on Saturday piled pressure on the ‘Promise keepers’ throughout the encounter.
From the first blast of the whistle Lobi Stars went in search of an early goal with one of their leading goalscorers in previous season, Stanley Oganbor, missing a sitter in the 25th minute.
Three minutes later, Oganbor laid a perfect pass for Onah whose shot drifted off the target to the disappointment of the home fans.
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Akwa United would have taken the lead against the run of play in the 33rd minute but junior international Monday Akile’s timely interception cut off the danger as the two teams ended the half on equal terms.
On resumption, Lobi Stars continued from where they stopped as they sustained their pressure on the visitors who sat back most of the time to catch their hosts on counter attack.
Ten minutes into the second half, Coach Eugene Agagbe made a tactical change as he brought on Christian Madu and Assurance Ifeanyi for Peter Onah and Jimmy Iteji respectively.
In the 63rd minute, Lobi Stars thought they had broken the deadlock when Ahmadu Liman tapped in from close range but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Towards the end of the match, the hosts became desperate for the curtain raiser, but their call for a penalty in the 89th minute was ignored by the referee who saw no foul against Oganbor.
In the second minute of the second half added minutes, Lobi Stars came close again but Oganbor’s powerful header missed the target narrowly.
Akwa United also threatened Lobi Stars on a number of occasions but there was nothing to show for their effort as the week one match ended in a goalless draw.
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