Doma United held by Plateau United after surrendering two-goal lead

Doma United head coach Ayeni Alexander praised his players despite seeing their two-goal advantage disappear in a 2-2 draw with Plateau United in Wednesday’s matchday 5 league fixture.

Michael Adegbite put the hosts in control with goals in the 35th and 47th minutes, but Plateau United fought back after the break to claim a point.

Gideon Monday reduced the deficit in the 58th minute before Paul Samson completed the comeback with an equaliser in the 77th minute.

The result leaves Doma United third in the league table on 10 points, while Plateau United occupy sixth place with eight points.

Alexander acknowledged Plateau United’s contribution to the match but felt his side had been unfortunate to concede after taking a commanding lead.

“They (Plateau) played well, if they didn’t play well they won’t score but sometimes when you are leading and on the run of play the goal came in which we cannot help it,” he told reporters.

“We wanted to try and consolidate on the goal then there was a deflection towards our goal area and it entered the net.

“So what we just need to do is talk to the boys so that we can psyche them up to lift up their game so that they can go out again and get something positive.”

Although disappointed that Doma United could not protect their lead, Alexander said he was satisfied with the overall display.

“To some extent I’m satisfied with their performance because they tried by scoring but unfortunately they were not able to hold on to their lead,” he added.

Plateau United manager Gbenga Ogunbote described the result differently, saying his team had effectively dropped two points despite recovering from 2-0 down.

“I thank God because we were able to get this one point from two goals behind. It wasn’t an easy one but I think we were very careless to have conceded those goals,” Ogunbote said.

“But like I did say before now as much as we’ve appreciated the one point to us it’s two points loss.”

Ogunbote also admitted that his squad was still developing its understanding, with a number of new players featuring, but said the issue would improve as the season progressed.

“All we need from our fans is to give us the required support in whatever capacity,” he said.

“Like I said it’s a work in progress, we have more of the new players playing and the synergy has not actually manifested. But as we play more games we will be getting the understanding.”