Niger United set a very unwanted record with their 27-25 defeat against Confluence Stars at the indoor sports hall of MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The Minna based team approached Saturday’s fixture with topflight debutants from Kogi state looking for an immediate halt to their poor run, having suffered five straight defeats this season.
With their defeat to Confluence, the Solid Miners became the first side in Nigeria Handball professional league history to lose first six games of the ongoing 2020 Prudent Energy Handball League.
On the heels of a morale-boosting win over De Defenders, Confluence Stars led Niger United in the first period by 12 goals to 11 before compounding the woes of the former Nigeria’s only one time African Club Champions in the second period.
Goalkeeper of Confluence Stars, Obinna Okwor made five outstanding saves in the first three minutes of the game before the trio of Tony Agada, Timothy Nzanwa and Kelvin Dele put Niger United to the sword.
Obinna Okwor told www.aclsports.com that the game against De Defenders the previous day gave them the morale to defeat Niger United.
He revealed that his teammates were not intimidated by Niger United because they lost majority of their key players.
The former U17 goalkeeper said, “After we defeated De Defenders by 21 to 18 yesterday, we were in a high spirit and it spurred us to get the win against Niger United. Our coach told us to believe in ourselves that no team is bigger than us in this tournament.
“Niger United is no longer the big team we know because they lost their key players to Sokoto United and other teams”.
Meanwhile, the head coach of Niger United, Yekini Adebayo told www.aclsports.com that he lost 15 of his best players to other teams during the transfer window due to their lucrative nature.
Adebayo said, “Niger United is undergoing some rebuilding processes; you cannot imagine that this season alone, we lost 15 quality players to other teams. Sokoto alone signed eight of my players, two to Nigeria Airforce, one to COAS Shooters and another two to Lagos Seasiders.
“You can see for yourself that Niger United paraded the youngest team in the league; some of the players are in the U15, U18 and U21 teams. It will take a little time for them to blend; this is a process and we shall overcome.
