Fans of Heartland FC, Owerri celebrated the goalless draw between their team and Rangers International FC of Enugu all-night-long, with carnival-like street-to-street jubilation in the Enugu metropolis on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the goalless draw between the two neighbouring South East teams was played at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu on Friday evening.
The game was played under floodlights and it dragged on for 90 minutes and even went into seven minutes of extra time.
The jubilant fans of Heartland FC started their drumming at the blast of the final whistle of the game, drawing the attention of the football fans with their oriental music and accompanying dancers.
However, at the end of the game, Rangers’ fans were cold and regretted that their darling team did not convert the chances they had in the game.
A Heartland FC fan, Mike Ohakim, said the goalless draw was like a win for them, adding that the Rangers’ players and crew had boosted ahead of the match that they would deal mercilessly with Heartland.
A Rangers’ fan, Chidi Atta, told NAN that he was devastated by the poor outing as a result of the poor finishing of Rangers’ FC strikers.
Atta was also angered that the penalty kick by his team could not be converted to a goal in the first half of the game.
Heartland Head Coach, Ndubuisi Ndubueze, said the match was one of the best played by Heartland in recent times.
“Although we did not win, but Rangers must have learnt some vital lessons concerning football today. However, we are happy about the day,” Ndubueze said.
Rangers’ Head Coach, Imama Amapakabo, said the night was disappointing as things didn’t work out well for his team and that finishing was a problem for his strikers.
“We had better tactical and technical play than the visiting team, but we did not manage all these to produce a winning result,” Amapakabo said.
NAN reports that Rangers FC and Heartland FC are two Nigerian premier league teams that have never been relegated.
NAN.