Plateau United dropped points at their fortress for the first time this season after a 1-1 draw with Gombe United in Jos on Sunday.
The Highlanders missed the commanding presence of defence ace Buhari Ibrahim, who was replaced by captain Golbe Elisha, who was playing his first game this season.
Plateau will have themselves to blame for the draw after wasting begging chances, especially in the opening moments of the match, with Chimezie Izuchukwu, Samuel Mathias and Akila Jesse the culprits.
Notwithstanding, the Desert Scorpions deserved the road point after Andrew Ikefe’s header on the hour mark from a trademark long throw from Daniel Itodo gave the hosts the opener. The dreadlocked defender towered above the Gombe defence to nod home his side’s goal, but 10 minutes later Ibrahim Yahaya levelled score for the visitors off a defensive blunder from the Plateau defence.
Gombe manager Aliyu Zubairu gave kudos to his side for their brilliance in the face of Plateau’s tough opposition, especially coming after dropping points at home in their last match.
“We had a rough game in our last home encounter where we drew; so we had a game plan to come and pick at least a point in Jos, which we eventually achieved.
“Plateau are not pushovers and having studied them, we were able to stick to the match plan without losing concentration especially in the defence; and we also took the fight to them upfront,” Zubairu said.
With the drawn game, Plateau maintained the second spot with 10 points adrift of leaders Rivers United.
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