After the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) week nine victory over Abia Warriors in Umuahia last Sunday, El- Kanemi Warriors’ striker, Bello Kofar Mata, has stated that the win would trigger the club to mount a strong challenge for the title.
According to Kofar Mata, the win also proved several critics’ impression about his side wrong.
The ’Borno Army’ surprised many by taking all the three points at stake in Umuahia in a game that saw them compete with the home side and weren’t overawed by the occasion.
Reputed to be one of the poorest travellers in the league, the Maiduguri side showed glimpses of brilliance during the game, as Husseini Bata’s goal proved to be the winner.
Kofar Mata believes that the victory has proven that his team are not just good at home but also put themselves about at away games.
“This win has shown that we can compete away and I’m happy that our hard work against Abia Warriors was rewarded with three points.
“I hear a lot of people say we are only good at home (in Maiduguri) and we can’t do as well as we do at home at away matches. I don’t agree with them at all. You can ask any player that comes to Maiduguri. We beat them fair and square at our home ground.
“Our secret is very simple. The fans are the reason why we always win. After all the trouble that we have faced all we think of is putting smiles on their faces and we always give everything at home.
“We have a young and talented team here. Hopefully, people will begin to see El-Kanemi Warriors in a different light now.
“Beating Abia Warriors has given us confidence, They are a good side just like us but we have shown we can hold our own. We are training hard for the next game against Nasarawa United and we hope to get three points from that game too,” he said to npfl.ng.
El Kanemi Warriors are second on the NPFL log with 15 points from nine games.