Nasarawa United’s Kabiru Balogun thumbs up mid-season tourney organisers

Nasarawa United’s Kabiru Balogun has hailed the organisers of the just concluded mid-season tournament that was held in Lafia.

With friendly matches few and not forthcoming due to the long break Balogun highlighted that the four games they have played last week afforded the Solid Miners the opportunity to bond together.

The Solid Miners were beaten twice by Aklonsedi in one of the group matches and in the final played on Sunday but Balogun revealed that the lessons learned from the tournament will be invaluable for the rest of the season.

The striker managed a goal during the tournament in their 1-0 win over AYD Doma and he asserted they will continue working harder until when the restart of the league season is made public.

“I will say I big thank you to those that organised this tournament for us,” Balogun told Goal.

“The few games we have played have made to see areas we must work on before the league continues. We were able to play up to four games plus the final game and these games have helped our preparations.

“Football has gone beyond just mere training. We need to play games together too to see areas of improvement. We are waiting patiently for the continuation of the season.”

The former Kano Pillars and Ikorodu United attacker further disclosed that their losses to Aklosendi, a lower league side twice in the tournament has become an eye-opener for them in the remaining part of their build-ups.

He noted that games involving both teams are local derbies which could go either way but that they are hopeful of better results in future matches.

“We lost 2-1 to Aklosendi last Friday and were beaten narrowly again on Sunday in the final on penalties,” Balogun continued.

“It is football and it is the way it is. We are both neighbours and you know what is it with local derbies. We will still have lots of friendly matches to play together in the future.”