Remo Stars made history becoming the first team to win the Optima Energy Gold Cup title back-to-back and had goalkeeper Vincent Edafe to thank as he showed class during the penalty kicks after he made two saves.

The battle to claim the bragging rights lived up to its billing, as it was end-to-end football and fireworks from both teams.

The first real chance of the game came the way of the Oluyole Warriors in the 20th minute.

Samuel Stone muscled out two Remo Stars defenders to set up Tony Okachi who went past his marker to flick the ball into the box, leaving Edafe to push the ball awkwardly to the path of Joshua Akpan, but the attacking midfielder put his effort wide.

The Sky Blue Stars could have punished the Oluyole Warriors 12 minutes later after Samuel Anakwe dazzled past his markers but couldn’t off despite having goalkeeper Bamidele Adeniyi beat in goal.

Six minutes into the second half, Okorom Stanley’s superb strike at goal from a set piece was easily saved by Bamidele as he was sharp with his timing of the ball.

With 10 minutes to end the game, Bamidele made two saves in less than two minutes, from a low drive shot and corner kick to deny the Sky Blue Star.

With no winner in regulation time, both teams needed spot kicks to settle scores.

It was Remo Stars that had the day after scoring four while Edafe was outstanding after he stopped two spot kicks of Shooting Stars.

The victory had Remo Stars smiling home with One Million Naira and a beautiful gold-plated trophy while 3SC was rewarded with half a million Naira.

Shooting Stars will renew its rivalry with defending champions Remo Stars in the final of the 10th edition of the Optima Energy Gold Cup.

Recall in the last edition, the Sky Blue Stars mauled the Oluwole Warriors 4-0 to claim the trophy.

It’s a record for 3SC and Coach Gbenga Ogunbote, as both are making it to a third final of the preseason tournament after the Oluyole Warriors defeat Sunshine Stars by three goals to one.

3SC produced a five-star performance to claim the bragging rights over their southwest neighbours, Sunshine Stars.

The game was full of suspense and fireworks with end-to-end football that produced four goals, and two in each half.

Anthony Okachi should have made it 1-0 for the Oluyole Warriors in the earliest period of the South West derby after his long-range shoot-on target rattled the crossbar of the Owen Whales. Sunshine Stars had their half chances but was not enough to put them ahead.

Shooting Stars took the lead in the 20th minute after good attacking teamwork, which saw Abdallahi Hassan finding the back of the net from a rebound as Mustapha Lawal punches Stone Samuel’s effort away.

Sunshine Stars didn’t let the lead last and responded 22 minutes after, as Uzoechi Ejike made it 1-1 scoring from the spot kick after a 3SC defender was penalized for a handball in the box.

Okachi, who was a thorn in the flesh of the Owena Whale defenders, turned away from his marker to shoot the ball beyond the reach of Sunshine Stars’ goalkeeper and restored 3SC’s lead.

As Sunshine Stars pushed for the equalising goal to stretch the game to a penalty shootout, they got punished in added minutes of regulation time.

A needless foul on 3SC Promise Damala in the Owena Whales box, made the referee to award a penalty against them.

And Joshua Akpan converted the spot kick, thereby putting the icing on the cake and made it 3-1 for 3SC.

The goal is Akpan’s fifth of the Optima Energy Gold Cup, thus making him the top scorer.

The final of the pre – season tournament will take place on Saturday at the Remo Stars stadium in Ikenne.

It was three wins out of three for the Gbenga Ogunbote side, as they came from behind to pepper the newly promoted Nigeria National League (NNL) side.

The Oluyole Warriors got a scare after FC Ebedei took a half-time lead from a penalty in the 26th minute. Ibrahim Opebi made no mistake, as he smashed it home for the Oliseh and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Udo.

Shooting Stars had to wait for another 35 minutes to level things after Olabode Olaitan sent in a lovely one from a free kick.

With eight minutes to end the game, Joshua Akpan punished a 10-man FC Ebedei with 3SC’s second goal of the morning and his fourth in the Optima Energy Gold Cup.

The victory sees Shooting Stars regain their top spot in the Group B log with 9 points followed by Sporting Lagos on 7 points.

Meanwhile, it was a six-goal thriller in Ikenne as Remo Stars made a meal out of Gateway United. The game saw Olarenwaju Francis scoring a brace for Gateway United and Samuel Anakwe getting a second hat-trick in the preseason tournament.

The Optima Energy Gold Cup defending champions were punished within four minutes after Gateway United took a two-goal lead.

Olarenwaju beat the offside flag to put the ball past Edafe Vincent for the first goal of the game. He then went on a double profiting from Remo Stars’ sloppy defending to make it 2-0 in the 10th minute.

Remo Stars then got a lifeline in the 27th minute as Samuel Anakwe pulled one back for Remo Stars from an assist from Godwin Odibo.

Six minutes after, Junior Nduka showed why he’s captain fantastic scoring with a beautiful free kick to make it 2-2.

It was a one-sided second half as Remo Stars cruised past a helpless Gateway United, to earn the second win of the campaign.

Anakwe put Remo Stars ahead nodding into Gateway United’s goal from Edozie Ewelike’s cross, for his second goal of the match.

He then completed his hat-trick in the 78th from a well-worked free-kick before he latches onto another assist from Ewelike.

Gbenga Ogunbote says he’s not yet satisfied with his team’s depth, even as Shooting Stars flogged Beyond Limits in a five-goal thriller in an early fixture of Matchday One at the FC Ebedei Stadium in Sagamu.

Ogunbote, an Optima Energy Gold Cup winning coach with Remo Stars and now 3SC Head Coach in his post-match talk said he still needs to do more to build a formidable Oluyole Warriors.

“The Optima Energy Gold Cup is a platform for me and my assistants to strengthen the team as we countdown to the 2022/23 season; so am not carried away by the scoreline or victory against Beyond Limits, as there is still much work to do.

“For the players, the win is good for them as it will boost their confidence level and improve their play in subsequent matches in the preseason tourney.

“I think my team is growing in strength when compared to our performance in the last preseason tourney we had in Ikenne a few weeks ago.

“We didn’t do much in it, because I had worked with the team barely less than a month. So I used the window to have a firm assessment of the players that were retained and to know the departments which I need to recruit players for.

“Not taking anything away from Beyond Limits, they are a team I know and are good. They are a team, I didn’t need to tell you how they play as they can rattle any team regardless of your status.

“But in the game; they had a few careless moments, which I knew was going to happen and we made the most out of it. Of such moments were the two needless free kicks and penalty they gave away, which saw Akpan Joshua scoring from them to get his hat-trick.

Abia Warriors netted twice in the second half to end a winless run against Remo Stars last Saturday in Okigwe and Coach Imama Amapakabo put the win down to a quick decision to exploit dead ball situations.
Abia Warriors returned to the second 45minutes to take the lead from Yakubu Ahmed 61st minute free kick while Valentine Odoh scored the second goal in the 80th minute.
Speaking to www.npfl.ng post match, Amapakabo explained that after observing the Remo Stars lineup, he had to improvise a match plan for the second half and leaned on the players to make better use of set pieces.
He revealed that the team has been working on set pieces and was happy to have gotten a set piece goal. 
“We needed to utilise the set pieces that we have had. We have been terrible with set pieces. We worked on it but when anxiety sets in, players tend to lose it but fortunately we were able to get a goal through a set piece”, the former Rangers Coach remarked.
He also spoke of his reading of the Remo Stars game approach from what he saw of their squad.
“Fortunately when I saw the lineup, I knew they would be coming up with a different formation. They kept a very low line and they kept a high number of players behind the line”.

“What we were not doing right in the first half was trying to keep possession and we didn’t have that individual brilliance and we were not making positive runs. We knew that we needed to drag them out of possession. We needed some bit of creativity”
Remo Stars coach, Gbenga Ogungbote said he was disappointed with the result as his team were careless in the game. 
“It was a disappointing game for me too. You see we had many careless moments especially in the second half. But sometimes when it happens you pick your pieces and then move on”, rued Ogunbote
Abia Warriors will go away to play Dakkada in Uyo in the next fixture while Remo Stars host Rangers International FC. 

Remo Stars defence refused to blink as Heartland threw every attacking arsenal at them in Owerri on Tuesday in one of the MatchDay 22 fixtures of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
The nil all draw was an outcome that impressed the Ikenne side’s head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote so much that he didn’t hesitate to hail the performance of the players.
The Sky Blue Stars had won the reverse fixture 3-0 on Matchday 2 in Ikenne but they adopted a cautious approach in Owerri to ensure they at least, shared the points that has consolidated their fourth spot on the table with 36 points. 
Ogunbote in a chat with www.npfl.ng disclosed that he was aware his team was in for a tough game and so detailed his defenders to be alert throughout the game to ensure they have possession of the first and the second balls in their goal area.
“It was a tough game for me to be honest. I expected the tensed atmosphere because of their position in the league table and I prepared my boys for that,” Ogunbote told www.npfl.ng.
“We tried to soak the pressure in the early part of the game and depended on counter attacking to hit them on fast breaks. I told my players to be cautious and take the game easy. We didn’t want to lose the game. I’m happy they played to instructions. We could have won the game had we pushed ourselves a little.
“It was a tough game. We had to give all that we had in the game. I must congratulate the players for their fighting spirit and the commitment they showed from the beginning to the end.”
Ogunbote who has had stints as Manager at Sunshine Stars and Enyimba was not happy with the condition of the turf at Dan Anyiam Stadium and asked the owners of the club to ensure it is put in order so that it won’t continue to affect their getting good results before their fans. 
Ogunbote said that the poor state of the turf made him to inform his players to adopt a cautious approach to avoid needless injuries.
“The stadium’s pitch was a letdown from the time we trained on it before the game. The pitch is not making them to play good football. They need to work on it if they are to start enjoying their home games,” Ogunbote remarked.
Meanwhile back to the game, Heartland with mostly new players were uncoordinated in the final third and they had some careless moments in defence that could have cost them the game.
What does this mean? 
Heartland continued to remain at the bottom of the table with 21 points from 22 games while Remo Stars held on to the fourth spot with 36 points.
What’s next?
Heartland will travel to Uyo to play Dakkada on Saturday date while Remo Stars are going on another away game against Nasarawa United at the New Jos Stadium, Jos. 

Kwara United on Sunday laboured hard before getting a 2-1 win over visiting Remo Stars in Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) match-day 20 clash played at the Kwara state stadium, Ilorin.

Having lost 3-0 in Ikenne in the match-day 19 battle, Kwara United players were determined to seek redemption at the Kwara state stadium against Remo Stars in the return fixture.

However, they were made to fight hard in front of their faithfuls before beating the visitors from Ikenne.

Hadi Haruna sent the home fans into total silence when he scored for Remo Stars in the 33rd minute, but Stephen Jude restored parity for Kwara United 10 minutes later as the first half ended 1-1.

Substitute Samad Kadiri netted the winner for Kwara United in the 75th minute via a stunning header thanks to Kabiru Balogun who gave the brilliant assist as Kwara United won 2-1.

Abdullahi Biffo after the encounter praised the fighting spirit of his players as he also promised that his team will continue to improve this season in the NPFL.

Gbenga Ogunbote of Remo Stars expressed unhappiness for the defeat claiming his wards lost concentration, but promised that correction will be made before their next home game.

As things stand presently, Kwara United are occupying 4th position on the NPFL table with 34 points and will be traveling to Uyo where they will tackle Dakkada on Wednesday in NPFL match-day 21 duel.