Gbenga Ogunbote, the Chief Coach of Shooting Stars Sports Club, on Sunday said it was disappointing for him and his players to have ended the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League season empty-handed.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that 3SC finished fourth in the 2023/2024 NPFL season, which ended on Sunday.
Ogunbote told NAN in Ibadan his club was not happy to have been unable to clinch a ticket to play on the continent next season in spite of the efforts they put in.
He said: “It was disappointing for us in spite of everything.
“Even though we are supposed to be celebrating today, having won today’s match and having finished fourth in the competition.
“But we set for ourselves a target of getting a ticket to play on the continent next season, and having failed to do that, we are clearly unhappy with that.”
Ogunbote, whose team had earlier lost in the quarter-finals of the 2024 President Federation Cup, said it could be heartbreaking not to achieve set-targets.
“We did all we could, and tried as much as possible, even through the Federation Cup, but our best was simply just not enough,” he said.
NAN reports that third place in the NPFL could have earned the Oluyole Warriors a ticket to play in the 2024/2025 CAF Confederation Cup competition.
It was the same thing a Federation Cup title win would have achieved.
The coach attributed their failure to their first round performance, which saw them dropping to the lower half of the league table by the end of the first round.
Ogunbote said: “We lost it in the first round really, dropping to 11th or 12th then.
“If we had not lost so many valuable points then, we could have finished among the top three.
“We picked up in the second round, and rallied to be in contention in the last few weeks, but it was not to be.”
NAN reports that 3SC finished fourth in the league with 62 points from 38 matches after 18 wins, eight draws and 12 losses.
They finished behind Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, Remo Stars FC of Ikenne and Enyimba International FC of Aba in first, second and third positions respectively.
To finish fourth on Sunday, 3SC beat visiting Sporting Lagos 1-0 at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex in their match day 38 fixture.
Christian Pyagbara scored the lone goal in the 38th minute, stooping in the goal area to head in a low cross from the right flank, thus taking his total league goals’ haul to 10.
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The result also meant Sporting Lagos dropped to the Nigeria National League to join Doma United FC of Gombe, Heartland FC of Owerri and Gombe United as the teams relegated.
Rangers International, who beat Gombe United 2-1 in Jos, won the competition with 70 points from 38 matches, five clear points ahead of runners-up Remo Stars, who had 65 points.
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