Pillars, Wolves seek redemption as Glo League Super Six enters day three

THE pre-season Glo Premier League Super Six tournament enters day three today with some clubs playing to resuscitate their designs on the title, while others, especially the junior national teams, would enter the pitch hoping to consolidate on their fine performances thus far.

   The table is beginning to take some shape and while the league clubs are currently arranged in the order they finished the Glo Premier League season last year, the two invitees, the Flying Eagles and the Olympic Team lead the pack. 

 The opening game of the day will pitch the Flying Eagles against Warri Wolves in a game that could give Manu Garba’s high flying U-20 boys unassailable lead on the log.

  Having scored five goals, albeit one at the wrong end, the Flying Eagles are already favorites to win the tournament courtesy of their brilliant attacking play and disciplined defending. Garba knows he has a good and big enough squad that can accommodate changes to key players who have featured in the two previous games. 

  Warri Wolves on the other hand are one of the two sides in the tournament yet to boast a win and judging from how their next opponents performed in their first two games, getting a win could be a tough task. But then this is football and anything is possible. Moses Ocheje needed to pull off some saves to keep Enyimba’s slender lead over Warri Wolves on Match Day Two but the Wolves must take the chances that come their way against the Flying Eagles because there won’t be a lot of them. 

    The second game features Kano Pillars against the national U-23 team beginning from 3.00 p.m.

 The Premier League Champions did not know what hit them when they faced the Flying Eagles on Monday and just as the lads did to Enyimba, they equally eased past Kano Pillars. The chances did come though at the tail end of the game but the boys brilliantly saw off the late surge from Pillars. 

  Okey Emordi’s boys will want to make amends when they face the Olympic team to prove that the last game’s result was just an off day in office. They may not be as flamboyant as their juniors in the U-20 has been in this tournament but they are hardworking and have a number of players who can hurt opponents. 

  They may also not be the better half of Samson Siasia’s squad but so far they have given a good account of themselves, with two wins in two games. They face their toughest test of the tournament so far in Pillars and must be at their very best to shut out the League Champions.

  The last game of the day will feature Dolphins against Enyimba. This fixture is a repeat of last season’s Federations Cup finals but both sides are without two key men who delivered the goods when they were needed last year. Emem Eduok and Mfon Udoh are two names conspicuously missing from the team lists of Dolphins and Enyimba respectively and the reality of life without the duo is hitting hard.

   Enyimba have signed quite a number of strikers but none have been able to score from open play yet in two attempts. Their general performance against Wolves was an improvement from their first game but there is still so much work to be done as a number of the players are still far away from ready.

 It is a similar story for Dolphins and they are the only side yet to score a goal in the competition. New signing Christian Pyagbara did little to impress against the Under-23 on Monday and was guilty of missing two good chances. Sitting bottom of the log is not what Dolphins envisioned and to change that they must improve and start scoring too.