By John Egbokhan

They are supposed to be brothers from the same pot but all that kindred spirit will be thrown aside this weekend when Sharks go up in arms with Dolphins in a week 31 Premier League match cracker in Port Harcourt. This match should make for an explosive one not because both sides are playing for the title or a continental ticket but are battling to escape being relegated to play in the Nigerian National League  next season.

Sharks

Presently, both teams are flirting dangerously with relegation, with Sharks seeming the more likely of the Port Harcourt sides to go down if they do not start ramping up points and pull away from the trio of Kwara United, Taraba FC and Bayelsa United, who all occupy the last spots of the table.

Bayelsa United seem condemned to go down, no thanks to their miserly 26 points from 30 matches while Taraba FC, with 29 points and Kwara United, on 32 points  are also in danger of being relegated.

Sharks, with 32 points and on the 17th position, lead Kwara United on superior goals count of -9 as against Kwara’s -14. And Sharks can pull clear of Kwara United if they defeat Dolphins in the Port Harcourt derby, which in turn may drag the latter into the relegation mix as they presently have 34 points to occupy the 15th position.

A Sharks win in Port Harcourt and a Kwara United’s victory in Enugu against Rangers will invariably see Sharks and Kwara leap to 35 points, one more than Dolphins, who will then be sweating over their back should Akwa United get a good result at home against Nasarawa United.

And as Sharks seek redemption, captain Odinga Odinga has rallied the boys to draw from Coach Festus Allen’s charge that they must stop crying over spilled milk and concentrate on securing their top flight status in the remaining eight games of the season.

Coach Allen had said “”this is not the time to cry over spilled milk, rather we need to give everything in our last nine matches and make sure we save this club from getting relegated. Everyone, the players, coaches, fans and officials, are working together to achieve this”.

And speaking in the same vein, Odinga said “that we lost our last match at Giwa should give us the impetus to go for a win against Dolphins. We must unite to  secure our Premier League status and stop dwelling on what happened in the games we lost””.