Ogunbote, Udoji Bag August LBA

Sharks head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote and Enyimba captain, Chinedu Udoji, have been named the Manager and Player of the League Bloggers Awards (LBA) for August respectively.

Ogunbote emerged LBA Manager for August after guiding his team, Sharks, away from the drop. Sharks spent eight straight matchdays in bottom spot between Week 14 and 21 before their resurgence under Ogunbote.

However, the month of August under review between matchdays 23 and 29 saw Sharks garner 13 points, same as table-topping Bayelsa United and El-Kanemi Warriors.

But Ogunbote nicked the LBA for August ahead of the duo of Ladan Bosso (Bayelsa United) and Zachary Baraje (El-Kanemi Warriors) after his team notched up an away win at Dolphins and a draw at Kwara United.

As at Matchday 22 of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Sharks occupied 19th spot but their impressive run in August has seen them jump to 12th.

All of the wins by Bayelsa United and El-Kanemi were from four home matches each. They managed a point each on the road at Sunshine Stars and Akwa United respectively.

For the LBA Player for August, Udoji came up against Rafael Boumsong (El-Kanemi Warriors), Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars), Christian Pyagbara (Sharks), Ndubuisi Ekwuruibe (Kaduna United), Musa Najare (Warri Wolves) and Victor Namo (Nasarawa United).

Boumsong, Ekwuruibe, Namo, Najare, Ali and Pyagbara played pivotal roles in their teams run in August but it was the defensive performance of Udoji that caught the attention of the LBA panel.

Udoji proved to be a defensive leader for Enyimba and helped them keep five clean sheets out of seven games in August against Nembe City, Warri Wolves, Kaduna United, Gombe United and Dolphins.

The LBA winners for August will be presented with their awards later this month.