Enyimba International FC of Aba on Tuesday defeated Heartland FC of Owerri 1-0 in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) match day 30 in Aba.

The result compounded the visitors’ hope of surviving relegation in the ongoing league. They will have to look elsewhere for the points to scale through the hurdle.

Ekene Awaziem scored the only goal of the match for the hosts in the 35th minute through a pass from Chigozie Chilekwu.

The home team could not convert their numerous chance as Heartland FC have their goalkeeper and Defender Anyanwu to thank for the slim margin.

In a post-match interview, Enyimba coach Finidi George hailed his team for making it double over the visitors in the ongoing season.

“It feels good to win games, and we know it is going to be a tough one because Heartland FC is fighting to survive relegation.

“But looking at the game, I think we had all the chances to score lots of goals, but that did not happen.

“At a time in the game, I became scared of the visitors attacking threat but thank God it ended in our favour.

“I believed that we were going to win because I told the players to win this game for my birthday, and they did just that,” said George.

George said his team is battling injury at the moment and was forced to adjust its defence in the match against the visitors.

“We had a lot of injuries in defence, and that was why we converted a midfielder, Chibuike Nwaiwu, and defensive midfielder, Daniel Daga, into full defence, and it worked out well.

“Though it ended 1-0, we missed a lot of chances, and the strikers know that they could have done better in the game, and they are not happy,” George said.

The result lifted Enyimba into second position with 51 points, while Heartland remained in 19th position with 26 points after 30 matches.

(NAN)