Dolphin survive carnage in Ilorin

Two Police men had their heads broken and had to be stitched right there on the pitch and the driver of the Dolphin bus, known as Osama was beaten to coma and as it seems, Dolphin may have to hire a driver to take them back to Port Harcourt.

The fans did not spare Chairman of Kwara United, Joseph, Fakayode as he was also mercilessly beaten by the angry mob. Genesis of the impasse Perhaps, the only mistake the center referee made in his handling of the game was the fact that he was fair and did not give any undue advantage to the home side.

The game was barely three minutes old when Dolphin Keeper, Chiojioke Ejiogu was taken off injured and replaced by Inengite Obhuo who failed to stop the first shot that came his way, allowing Onafe Edibiri to score from outside the eighteen yard box.

After the goal, things normalized a bit and it was a game of two masters, as Duke Udi must have covered every blade of grass on the pitch as he masterfully directed the way things went in midfield, giving Albert Chinwo and his defensive duo of Godwin Emmah and Kingsley Williams too much work to do.

On the other end of the pitch, Victor Ezeji, just back from a failed trial in South Africa, was comfortable strutting his stuff, and making Ashifat Sulieman and Abiodun Aminu uneasy in the Kwara defence. Ezeji was at the top of his game and was hacked down almost every time the had the ball until he had to be taken off just before half time and replaced by Efosa Eguakun.

On resumption of the second half, Kelechi Osunwa, playing wide on the left moved into the center off attack and Ochuko Ojobo switched to the left giving Efosa Eguakun enough room to operate on the left and the balance of the game began to tilt to Dolphins' side. Goal scorer, Amafe Edebiri was red carded in the 55th minute for elbowing Jide Micheal, causing angry fans to march to the side lines in protest.

At this point the Match Commissioner, Agari ordered the referee to stop the game until fans around the pitch were cleared out, a stoppage that lasted about fifteen minutes. On the restart, Dolphin attacked from the right, and Kennedy Chinwo's pullout met the head of Kelechi Osunwa who flicked beyond the reach of a hapless Boyin Ayodele in goal for Kwara.

With Ezeji out of the game, Duke Udi had the game under control but Sunday Okoh fluffed more than four goal bound moves with just the keeper to beat. With just two minutes to go, new comer, Ibrahim Idoko, beat Kwara United's offside trap and flicked to ball to Osunwa who had just the keeper to beat.

In the most stylish of plays, Osunwa lifted the ball over the head of the onrushing keeper and it sailed lazily into the net for Dolphins' second goal.

Just as the referee had his whistle in his mouth to end the game, Sunday Okoh fell in the box and Kwara were awarded a penalty which they converted to end the game 2-2

Carnage carnage every where

As soon as the whistle sounded, angry fans invaded the pitch venting their spleen on the Center Referee, the Match Commissioner, Assistant Referee, and Chairman of Kwara United, Joseph Fakayode, forcing the police to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Both teams were trapped inside the stadium for more than one hour after the game and needed a combined team of anti riot police to escort them out of the stadium.

After the game, Duke Udi told nigeriasports.com that he was disappointed at the behavior of the fans.

"The red card given to Edibiri was justified because he elbowed the player. Now they are fighting, we will surely be banished. How will they now watch us?"

A history of crowd violence

About five years ago Kwara fans beat up Col. Joro Yabilsu, the President of the Nigerian Referees Association and allegedly burnt his car after a league match in Ilorin.

They were banned to Calabar, and even though they were topping the league at the time of the incident, they lost every game they played after then, both home and away and ended up being relegated.