Barring any unforeseen circumstances, table topping Rivers United are the firm favourites to win the 2022 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) title when the season ends in July as scheduled by the League Management Company (LMC).
Established in 2015 after the merger of Sharks and Dolphins, the ‘Pride of Rivers’ as Rivers United are called, have remained a formidable side in the Nigerian topflight but are yet to win the coveted NPFL title.
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It will, however, be noted that prior to the merger, Dolphins had won the league in 2004 and 2012 with Coaches Musa Abdullahi (Late) and Stanley Eguma (incumbent) respectively.
In 2014, the defunct Dolphins finished the league in the 16th position but when Rivers United came on board in the 2015/16 season, they placed second behind former African champions Enyimba.
And in the following season, Rivers United who hovered around the relegation zone finished the season in a distant 15th position but improved marginally as they came 9th at the end of the 2018 season.
Following more incentives from the government who is the sole financier of the club, Rivers United improved on their performance and finished 5th in the 2018/2019 season before ending as runners up last season.
In the current season, the club is top of the table with 16 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses from 25 games played so far. They have the second-best home record with 12 wins, 1 draw and 0 defeat in 13 games but have the best away record with 4 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses in 12 games.
Rivers United have scored 39 goals while conceding 11 with goal difference of +28 to lead the table as at Match Day 25 with 55 points. Their key striker, Rafiu Kayode Ishaq, currently leads the top scorers chart with 13 goals and has assisted three goals while his strike partner, Nyima Nwagua has five goals.
Rivers United began the season with a 1-1 draw at Lobi Stars and went unbeaten till Match Day 11 when they lost 0-1 to Plateau United in Jos. However, they picked themselves up and went 12 games unbeaten again until Sunshine Stars stopped them in another 0-1 loss in Akure for only their second loss of the season in 25 matches.
It is against this background that Rivers United have been tipped by many to win their first ever NPFL title at the end of the 2022 season. Expectedly, the camp of the ‘Pride of Rivers’ is brimming with confidence.
Speaking to Trust Sports, Rivers United burly striker, Nyima Nwagua, said the club is hungry to win the league title as they are yet to savour it since they came into existence in 2015.
“This is Rivers United and as you are aware, we have not won the league before. We are motivated to give the state the league title for the first time since 2015 when the club came into existence.
“We have only been coming second. The players and members of the technical crew are hungry to win the league and by the grace of God, we will win,” he said.
Speaking in the same vein, left-full back and former CHAN Eagles player, Ebube Duru, said the players are motivated to win the league title.
“We are ready to win the league for the government who have supported us in every way. We get paid as and when due.”
He, however, lamented that it has not been easy covering long distances on bad roads to honour away matches.
“It has not been easy for us due to some long road trips we take. We sometimes spend two days on the road but because we are determined, we have never allowed such issues to affect our performances on the pitch,” he said.
On his part, team’s top scorer and 2022 NPFL leading goalscorer, bullish Ishaq, said the club management believes in them and that has given them the impetus to repay them with good results.
“There are so many positive things behind our success. Once you have a good management that believes in you, it gives you so much confidence and courage to play good football.
“Secondly we have a good coaching crew that knows what they are doing, and believes in the abilities of the players as well.
“Furthermore, as players, we see ourselves as champions and we take every match like it’s a final match that will determine the winner. There is unity in the team. We see ourselves as brothers and play for one another. It makes it easy for us to win,” he explained.
However, the technical adviser of the team, Stanley Eguma, who is the longest serving coach in the NPFL has remained coy on his team’s title hunt.
He has continued to tell anyone who cares to listen that the league is a marathon so it is too early for his team to be seen as title favourites.
According to him, there are still more games to be played before a winner emerges.
“Like I will always say, it is not yet over. The league is a marathon. You cannot say it is over when we have more than fifteen games to play.
“So, one cannot just begin to celebrate. We still have other tough opponents to play so for now I think we’re still on course and there’s a very big hope in the team that we can achieve,” Eguma told www.npfl.ng.
With the ‘Pride of Rivers’ leading the table with four points more than the nearest challenger, Plateau United, it is hoped they won’t let down their guard and lose the opportunity to win their first ever league diadem.
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