Coach Stanley Eguma of Rivers United has noted that fatigue played a huge role in preventing his team from winning and earning all three points during their NPFL23 match against relegation-threatened Wikki Tourists in Bauchi.

Shortly after they managed to hold off their opponents to a 1-1 draw at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Stanley Eguma acknowledged it was a fantastic game that was only marred by fatigue.

Wikki Tourists missed a penalty in the 20th minute during a fiercely contested first half, and the Pride of Rivers opened the second half sluggish and fell behind to an early second-half goal.

Victor Okoro was at the right spot to pounce on a bad pass out of defense, during a goalmouth brawl to deliver the opener for the hosts.

Before Albert Korvah’s equalizer in the 67th minute earned the reigning champions an important road point in Bauchi,

A rebound from Lukman Adefemi’s shot was quickly placed by the attacking midfielder from Liberia, giving him his second goal in the Nigeria Premier Football League.

“We had a lot of scoring chances which we missed. They got a penalty and missed, but I think it was a good game, it was a blanaced game. Technically, the two teams played good game. We had a little bit of fatigue on us, I think it affected us in our game today.” – Stanley Eguma said.

The Rivers United coach added that;

“We prefer to get the three point, I wouldn’t say unfortunately, but fortunately we got a draw. Its ok, you can see that we almost played with our second team here. Most of our key players that have been playing in the continent are not here today because of injury and fatigue, we had to rest them at home.”

With two games remaining, Rivers United now sits in second place in group B of the shortened Nigeria Premier Football League, three points behind Lobi Stars.

“We take every game as they come, today we planned to win here but we got a draw. We will go back home, correct our mistakes and intensify our preparations for the next game. I think we will come out better in the next game.” – Eguma said.

The NPFL22 champions will play their next two home games against Sunshine Stars and Doma United at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, respectively.

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