Anthony Okpotu has his first goal of the hat trick on Match Day 23 shortlisted for the VAT Wonder Goal and is competing with strikes from FC Ifeanyiubah’s Ivorian import, Seka Paschal and El-Kanemi Warriors’ Otakho Aghaghowa.
Okpotu scored on the 20th, 27th and 31st minute to complete a hat trick against MFM on a day Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) leading scorer, Stephen Odey was rested. It was Okpotu’s first goal, a free kick from way out that has caught the eye.
“The technique he applied in executing the free kick is a product of training ground routine that was perfect”, remarked Duro Ikhazuagbe, a seasoned Sports Journalist and Sports Editor of Thisday newspaper.
Aghahowa’s El-Kanemi Warriors was seeing their home invincibilty threatened by Rangers with a late goal by Daniel Etor before the forward released a long range effort from close to the half line straight to the high end of the net. “the goalkeeper could not respond because it was a surprise shot that can only be played by someone with vision and huge heart”, noted Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire.
Burly Fc Ifeanyiubah striker, Seka benefitted from a defensive mix-up by defenders of ABS to slam home the second of their 2-0 defeat of the Ilorin side. Fred Edoreh, Chairman of Lagos State chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria(SWAN) said “it takes not just intuitiveness but also calculation to shrug off a marker to hit the ball well in the situation he got the ball inside the box”.
Video of the three goals have been uploaded on the League website, www.npfl.ng and the twitter handle, @lmcnpfl for fans to vote. Voting will end midnight of Friday, June 16.
The VAT Wonder Goal is a community engagement scheme created by the LMC and supported by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) to support charity and promote awareness for payment of taxes by citizens.
The winner receives N150,000 half of which is contributed to a Charity to be nominated by the player within the state where the club is based.
