Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi on Sunday began their new Nigeria National League (NNL) campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Bici First Football Club at the McCarthy stadium, Makurdi.

The Chairman of Lobi Stars, Simon Terver Ikya, said the most important thing for the team was securing the three points, regardless of their performance.

Ikya admitted that the players made some mistakes during the encounter but maintained that he was satisfied with the victory.

Head Coach of Lobi Stars FC Bala Nikyu expressed delight at securing the maximum points, promising to correct the shortcomings observed in the match and improve the team’s performance in subsequent games.

He also attributed some of the attacking challenges to the absence of two regular forwards, who were unavailable for the encounter.

On his part, Bici First FC Technical Adviser, Patrick Bassey, described the match as a good contest and expressed satisfaction with his players despite the defeat.

Bassey, however, said his team remained focused on its promotion ambition, adding that it would work towards securing points in subsequent matches, particularly away from home.