It was a sad day for the fans of Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, as visiting Niger Tornadoes of Minna defeated their darling team by two goals to one.
What rankled most is that Rangers lost a penalty kick in the 90th minute of the game that would have made them equalise.
Jersey No. 31, Okechukwu Chidozie kicked the ball across the bar to the charging of the teeming fans and officials of the Flying Antelopes.
Tornadoes began their winning spree 28th minute of the first half through Israel Sarai, Jersey No. 17.
Rangers Jersey No.21, Collins Ugwuele reduced the tally 32 minutes into the first half.
All efforts by the league champions to equalise the game proved a Herculean task as they lost scoring chances, even missing a penalty in the second half of the game.
Happy at the performance of his boys, Niger Tornadoes coach, Mohammed Majin said they had to win because they were on a revenge mission.
“Rangers was the only team that defeated us home and away last season and we prepared for them. We came for a revenge mission,” he said.
Rangers Technical Advice, Fidelis Ilechukwu, said he would apologise to their fans for the loss.
“I want to apologise to our fans for today’s loss. We shall make up for the loss in the coming games,” he said.
Commenting on the penalty they lost, Ilechukwu said that they had ‘big boys ‘ that will not play penalty, and that resulted in their failure.
He regretted that they did not have good strikers, but promised to address the lapse in the coming matches.