Two late goals from Aminu Aliyu were enough for 2019 Champions, Niger United to condemn Safety Shooters to their first defeat in the matchday 7 of the 2023 Ardova Handball Premier League in Benin on Saturday.
Niger United beat Safety Shooters by 23 to 20 goals in an entertaining match filled with Blocks, Bounced Shots, Dribble, Fake runs, and interception of balls witnessed by the President of the Handball Federation, Sam Ocheho, and other important dignitaries.
The dying seconds goals from Aminu Aliyu broke the heart of Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Paul Okpe who was present at the match venue to witness Safety Shooters.
Aliyu told www.aclsports.com that scoring the vital goals for Niger United against Safety Shooters means a lot to his teammates.
He said the players gave 100% effort to the game after narrowly losing to Seasiders Kings by 20 to 21 goals on matchday 5.
He said, “It is a great honour and privilege to be the one to score the much-needed goals against Safety to end their unbeaten run. The feeling I have right now cannot be quantified because a loss will be devastating.
“Our coach told us we can defeat Safety Shooter only if we believe and play as a unit throughout the game. You could see that the distribution of the balls was magnificent and we put Safety Shooters on their toes throughout the match”.
In another interview with www.aclsports.com, Captain of Niger United HC, Mohammed Anas said the victory is a huge one for the club considering that Niger United has not had one Safety Shooters in the last two seasons.
Anas hailed the technical prowess of coach Yekini Adebayo and other members of the technical crew for recruiting good players that can compete in this year’s handball league.
He said, “I feel so much pride in my team and the technical crew. It’s been a dream come true. The spirit is always high due to the loss of our game against Seasiders Kings and we will continue to keep our heads together till the end.
“To be honest, I was worried before the match because Safety Shooters have been beating us for a very long time. The team was under pressure not to lose and that might demoralise us even more but thank God we were able to overcome them.”
