Desmond Iwuchukwu
Adaobi Okah scored five goals to help her side Rivers Angels take their Federation Cup round of 32 opponents, Golden Sun to the cleaners inside the Eket Stadium.
Okah rounded the goalkeeper in the 3rd minute to open the scoreline for the Jewel Of Rivers after receiving a through ball from Chiamaka Okwuchukwu.
Sofia Agyaakwa then doubled the lead from a set piece delivery in the 6th minute and the eight-time Champions held on to the lead as they went for the break.
On resumption of play in the second half, Okah made it 3-0 for Rivers Angels with a cool header in the 49th minute, and in the 53rd minute, she registered her hat-trick with a simple tap-in.
Alice Ambassa and Blessing Okpe came off the bench to increase the tally to 6-0 as both scored in the 59th and 61st minute respectively.
Okah made it more frustrating for the Bayelsa State side as she netted in the 70th and 85th minute to round off the scoring to 8-0.
Head Coach, Edwin Okon after the game praised the confidence of his players in converting their chances.
“I want to start by thanking God for the victory today and also commend my players for their confidence in ensuring they convert the chances we got in the game because that’s one of the things I’ve been working on.
“Although we missed a few chances in the first half, but they were able to correct it in the second half as I had to remind them that they shouldn’t underrate any team.
“There are no amateurs in football especially in a Cup game where it is in a knockout stage. Right now we will go back home to work more on our scoring ahead of the next round,” he said.
Adaobi Okah also spoke to newsmen after the team’s resounding win. The forward said the team needs to put in more work ahead of the next round.
“I am happy with the goals I scored today but we still need to put in more effort because the competition is going into a tougher stage and we will be meeting stronger opponents.
“We didn’t really understand our opponents’ strategy in the first half but we figured it out in the second half and utilize our chances better to ensure we defeated them by a higher margin,” she added.
Rivers Angels are through to the round of 16 and await their next opponent.
