Ubong Ekpai, Harrison Ibukun and Cyril Olisemah scored for
the Promise Keepers to prove their superiority over the struggling newcomers in
the top-flight.
Ikorodu United head coach Edema Benson, possibly seeing out
his last game at the club, restored Harrison Egbune to the startlist after he
left him on the bench at FC Ifeanyiubah over the weekend. Jimmy Bello also got
a rare start in goal ahead of Adamu Azeez.
For Akwa United, Ekpai returned from suspension but Maurice
Cooreman, facing his former team, had to leave out the duo of Kufre Ebong and
Yusuf Adio from the match day squad owing to illness and injury respectively.
The Promise Keepers were business-like from the outset and
their approach paid off when Ekpai headed them in front on 10 minutes from
Chigozie Chilekwu's inch-perfect cross.
One of the best performers in Ikorodu United's fold,
Abdullahi Fatai, put the Promise Keepers' backline on their toes on a number of
occasions, including forcing out a save from Olufemi Kayode on 17 minutes.
Three minutes before the break, Akwa United were reduced to
10 men after Emeka Isaac Ohazurike was shown a second yellow card for illegally
stopping Ifegwu Ojukwu.
Despite playing for 48 minutes with numerical advantage, Oga
Boys did not make their extra man count.
Five minutes into the restart, Akwa United won a spot kick
after Ubong Friday was fouled in the box by Moshood Kabir. A minute later,
Ibukun made no mistake by smashing the ball into the top corner from 12 yards
out.
On the hour mark, Olisemah popped up to score against his
former club from Ekpai's assist to put the game to bed.
Ojukwu, Agbane Candy and Fatai made efforts to pull one back
for Ikorodu United without success.
The defeat leaves Ikorodu United without a win on the road
in 360 minutes this season. The Oga Boys also sit in 16th position with five
points while Akwa United move into fourth place with 10 points.
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