By Rasaq Oboirien
COACH Manu Garba has absolved his players from Gombe United Super 4 defeat to Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) FC of Ilorin on Tuesday night, reports NaijaSportsXtra.blogspot.com.
The Savannah Scorpions missed the chance to play in Thursday's finale as they lost 4-5 on penalties after a barren draw.
Garba in his post-match chat said: "It another football lesson as you win some and lose some, but it was a keenly contested game.
"My players didn't play too well in the first half and in the second half, we should have wrapped up the game looking at the number of half chances we created.
"It a test game for us as we want to see how the new players have recruited can adapt to our playing methods.
"I must confess that am impressed with how my defenders and midfielders performance in the game, but there's still a lot work to do in the attacking department if the team must compete for silverware this season.
"For our numerous fans, am happy with them as they cheered on both teams. I want to assure them that we'll make one or two adjustments on the team with a view to win the third place match on Thursday."
Effiom Bassey's last penalty kick dashed the hopes of the Savannah Scorpions players and indeed that of their fans who in their thousands had shown tremendous support towards cheering them on in a pack full Pantami Stadium in Gombe State.
Gombe United will play in the losers final on Thursday evening.
