Enyimba's home victory: The perfect home start for Finidi George

Before 12 p.m, fans had begun buying tickets for the game. The tickets were sold for 500 naira and only few of them complained. At exactly 12:49 p.m, Finidi George arrived in his official car and the fans waved for him and he reciprocated. CAF approved 5000 fans for the game and the coach knew there could be more than those he waved to at the gate. The supporters club were vociferous and they left the stadium to wait for the Enyimba bus at about 400 metres away from the stadium's gate.

At exactly 1:10pm, the People's Elephants arrived and the supporters club led the entourage and it was a beautiful sight to behold as they led the team in a melodious procession into the stadium.

Fans began arriving in their numbers and soon, the Elephants were on the pitch against a young and energetic Diambars team who looked more like a football academy.

The party started early in the second minute when Victor Mbaoma beat his marker and found Omoyele running into the box and he gave him a fine pass and the striker said 'thank you' with a fine finish.

Diambars were not deterred by that early goal and they fought gallantly for an equalizer. The first goal gave the fans a glimpse of what Finidi's team would look like, it was what they wanted. 

Enyimba's second goal brought cheers from the crowd and they had found their voice back, a feature which was lacking last season. Mbaoma's well-taken goal was a reward for how busy he had kept Dially and Bakary Sane. 

Finidi's changes were spot on, like they were in Senegal. At the Lat Dior stadium, substitute, Gabriel Orok was fouled and another substitute, Cyril Olisema scored the winner from the spot. In Aba, Sadiq Aboubakar and Tosin Omoyele gave way for Emeka Obioma and Samuel Kalu and both players combined to get the third goal for Enyimba. Obioma beat his markers on the right and sent in a low cross which beat Malick and met Samuel Kalu who scored his debut Enyimba goal. Samuel Kalu is known by many fans and that could be why the relatively large crowd erupted in joy.

A new player wormed his way into the hearts of fans. Daniel Ijeh came on for Philip Ozor and made five excellent ball recoveries and every time he did, the fans showed applauded him.

After the game, the players appreciated the fans for their support and for Finidi, he was a happy man. The look on his face said it all; it showed a man who was satisfied with his team's perfect start at home and that was all he ever wanted.

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Bethel Kalu is a passionate sports writer whose love for writing began as a young boy. He has been writing sports for 7 years has over 500 articles written by him. 

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