BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN BAUCHI
IT WAS pure, unadulterated drama at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium as Wikki Tourists and Enyimba played out a 2-2 classic that will be talked about in the bars of Bauchi and Aba for weeks to come.
In a match that swung like a pendulum, it took a 97th-minute equalizer to deny the hosts a famous victory and keep the “People’s Elephant” from a damaging defeat.
The star of the show for much of the afternoon was Wikki’s midfield maestro Jonathan Mairiga. Mairiga, who has been the heartbeat of the Tourists’ season, looked to have sealed the points when he rifled home in the 71st minute to make it 2-1. It was his 8th goal of a stellar campaign, and for twenty minutes, it looked like the match-winner.
The game ignited in the 15th minute when the home side took a deserved lead, sending the Bauchi faithful into a frenzy. Enyimba, struggling for consistency this term, looked shell-shocked but clawed their way back into the contest.
The visitors found their leveller through a moment of individual brilliance in the 56th minute, setting the stage for a grandstand finish. Then came Mairiga. The Wikki talisman ghosted into the box to restore the lead, and at 2-1, the Tourists looked odds-on to bag the three points.
But you can never count out the eight-time champions. As the clock ticked deep into “Fergie Time,” Enyimba threw the kitchen sink at the Wikki backline. In the 97th minute, with the home fans already whistling for the end, A. Nwaorisa became the hero for the Aba giants, ghosting in to poke home a dramatic equalizer.
”To lose it like that in the final seconds is a bitter pill to swallow,” said one dejected Wikki supporter. “Mairiga played like a god, but football is a cruel game.”
For Enyimba, it is a point gained in a difficult away environment, but for Wikki Tourists, it will feel like two points dropped as they continue their scrap at the wrong end of the table.