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By: Abiodun Adewale.
New Heartland coach Kennedy Boboye can finally heave a sigh of relief after guiding the Naze Millionaires to their first victory of the season in the Nigeria Premier Football League, thanks to a shock 1-0 win over Bendel Insurance in Owerri on Wednesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Austin Osayande’s 51st minute goal ensured victory for Heartland to put an end to their run of 11 games without a win.
Heartland’s first win of the season came three games into the reign of Boboye, who took charge of the team on match-day 10 and began with a 1-0 defeat at home to Enyimba, before forcing a goalless draw against 3SC in Ibadan on Sunday.
However, the victory wasn’t enough to take them out of the relegation zone as they remain 19th in the table with 10 points from 12 matches.
In other match-day 12 games on Wednesday, Remo Stars goalless draw against Niger Tornadoes in Kaduna was enough to keep them on top of the table on goal difference with 23 points while Lobi Stars also went back to joint-top in the table courtesy of their 1-0 win over Gombe United.
Doma United kept up the pace with the leaders in third place with 22 points after recording a goalless draw against Kwara United in Ilorin. The Gombe side are now unbeaten in their last eight games and also failed to concede in the process.
In Akure, Moses Omoduemuke continued his scoring form for Sunshine Stars with his 72nd minute goal making the difference between them and 3SC in a southwest derby just as Plateau United needed a late goal from Olawale Doyeni to edge Enugu Rangers 2-1 in Jos.
Kano Pillars also made it back-to-back wins in the league for the first time this season with a 1-0 win over Akwa United in Kano — a result which compounds the woes of the Promise Keepers under Fatai Osho as they dropped to 18th on the log with just 11 points from 12 matches.