Port Harcourt derby not fixed, says Eguma

By Ifeanyi Ibeh


November 23, 2010



Team Manager of Dolphins FC, Stanley Eguma, has come out to state that the outcome of last weekend’s Port Harcourt derby between his side and Sharks FC was not premeditated.

The encounter, which ended 1-0 in favour of Sharks, was the most eagerly anticipated game of the last round of matches of the Nigerian Premier League, and was beamed live by sports channel SuperSport.

In the first half of the game played at the Sharks Stadium, both sides made a contest of it, much to the delight of spectators at the venue, and appeared evenly matched. The second half was however a different kettle of fish as players of both sides, particularly those of Dolphins, literally went to sleep right after Sharks shot into the lead shortly after the hour mark through veteran forward Victor Ezeji.

Dolphins were more than content to maintain the score line as it stood and this wasn’t helped in any way when television cameras caught the team’s goalkeeper Sunday Rotimi with a broad grin on his face, toying around with the ball inside his penalty area.

Eguma, however, insists that there was no prior agreement between the two clubs jointly owned by the Rivers State government. The Dolphins boss, who expressed disappointment with the outcome of the game - his side’s first loss of the season - explained that his players, for no apparent reason, fizzled out in the second half.

“We played very well and gave our all but in the second half my boys fizzled out and that is where my disappointment comes from,” he said. “It is a game we should have won but in football you win some and lose some.

If you watched the game, you would have seen the effort my boys put in to score, especially in the first half. Maybe that was why they ran out of gas towards the end of the game. This was a big match watched all over Africa and the star match of the league and I wonder how you can fix a game like that. It was a bad day at the office for my boys and I will advise we stop these entire match fixing allegations.”

When the axe falls

Not only did the defeat at the hands of Sharks end Dolphins’ perfect start to the 2010/2011 season, a start that has seen them winning all their games so far and not letting in a goal, it also served as their first loss in the league to their bitter city rivals in seven years.

It was also the first win of the season for a Sharks side which subsequently dragged themselves away from the relegation zone. Last season, both sides were involved in a controversial fixture that ended in a draw albeit only after Dolphins’ goalkeeper Rotimi had saved a penalty awarded under controversial circumstances deep into stoppage time in the second half.

The result, which was unfavourable to Sharks, as they were neck-deep in relegation trouble back then, allegedly led to a slash in the salaries and sign-on fees of three Dolphins players.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League, Davidson Owumi, said that the league body will wait to receive the official report of the Port Harcourt derby before deciding on what step to take.

“We do not want to see anything that will damage the integrity of the league,” he said. “We are waiting for the official match report, and if it indicates that there was any sign of foul play, we will not hesitate to take action. The board is doing its best to sanitise the league and present a product that will stand up to the highest possible scrutiny, and it is unacceptable for clubs to try to compromise the integrity of this competition.”