Soccer News of Friday, 7 May 2004

Source: OJEIKERE AIKHOJE, NIGERIA

Ghanaian coached team are mid-season champs in Nigeria

Dolphin Football Club of Port-Harcourt, coached by Ghanaian-born, Phillip Boamah and former Nigerian U-17 and U-20 coach, Musa Abdullahi, are on the verge of running away as mid-season champions in Nigeria?s Globacom Premier League.

Despite losing 0-1 to Julius Berger of Abeokuta in a rescheduled match, on Thursday, at the M.K.O. Abiola Stadium, Dolphin still look good to be mid-season kings as there are indications that no team would get close to their 34 points haul after all outstanding matches would have been completed.

The likes of defending champions, Enyimba, former league and Coca-Cola FA Cup kings, Julius Berger, and current Coca-Cola FA Cup champion, Lobi Stars, are some of the clubs with outstanding matches in the league.

All three teams would be busy with rescheduled matches this weekend.

Dolphin performed the biggest feat this term when they recorded a 1-0 away win at Enyimba.

In a bid to strengthen the squad for the second round of the league, Dolphin recently signed former Nigerian international, Emmanuel Ebiede, who has played professional football in Belgium, Holland and the United Arab Emirates.

Although, Dolphin won the former Division One championship in 1998 when they were still called Eagle Cement, the team is yet to make an impact in the domestic scene since winning the Coca- Cola FA Cup as a second division team in 2001.

This feat is the first for the Rivers State Government sponsored team since its entry into the elite class in Nigeria.

Boamah, a former coach of Julius Berger, Kwara United and defunct Kwara Stars (all in Nigeria) and Okwahu United (in Ghana) is Chief Coach at Dolphin, while Abdullahi is Technical Adviser.