Dolphins crash out of Confederation Cup

Ganiyu Salmam, Kumasi, Ghana - 13.05.2008

The final whistle sparks wild celebrations
from Manchester United players and
fans as Sir Alex Ferguson's men win
the English Premiership by two points
on Sunday. PHOTO:Getty ImagesNIGERIA‘s surviving flagbearer in this year‘s CAF Confederation Cup competition, Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt, ende their campaign in an inglorious manner as the team fell 1-4 to Ghananian side Ashanti Kotoko in the return leg of their second round tie.

The Nigerian side had shocked the over 40,000 capacity filled Baba Yara Stadium with the opener scored through an own goal by Prince Amakye which was however credited to Wobo Owuzuruike of Dolphins.

The Ghananians equalised with just a minute to the end of the first half through samuel Johnson to end the first stamza 1-1. It was a disastrous second half for the Nigerian team as Kotoko went haywire, scoring three goals in the process to make mincemeat of Dolphins.

Eric Bekwe scored twice in the 72nd and 85th minutes while Kwabena Yaro killed off Dolphins’ hope of qualifying for the group stage with a back breaking goal in the 89th minute to send Kotoko through on 4-3 aggregate having lost the fist leg 0-2 in Calabar.

The arena was thrown into wild jubilation immediately the centre referee, Antonio Jose from Angola blew the final whistle, a development that saw one of the Ghanaian fan injured after sustaining serious injury and had to be rushed to a hospital.