Surajudeen Lawal wins second Imo SWAN Heartland Player of the Month Award
By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri
.
Heartland FC attacker, Surajudeen Lawal has secured his second Imo SWAN Heartland FC Player of the Month award, (POTMA), after he was named the winner for February, 2025 following a keenly contested affair.
The versatile attacker won majority of the votes by members of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Imo Chapter and is the 6th winner of the prestigious award after he polled the highest number of votes to beat new signings, Terdoo Shimagande and John Bassey who came a distant second and third places.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Imo SWAN Secretary, Tunde Liadi, disclosed that others Lawal had to beat to earn the award includes Emmanuel Charles, Christian Molokwu, Chukwuma Agor, Bobo Chibuike and Kelvin Ogunga who all emerged as the Man of the Match in each of the eight games Heartland FC played in the month of February.
The games played last month were against Rivers United, Katsina United, Shooting Stars, Dom Daniels, Amanda FC, OISA FC, Niger Tornadoes and El Kanemi Warriors and the shortlisted players were picked as the most outstanding of the games.
Lawal who also won this accolade in November last year scored four goals in February and also had an assist in the six games he played in February in all competitions.
He won the Man of the Match against Dom Daniels FC and OISA FC respectively, with two goals apiece in both games which steered Heartland to their first FA Cup triumph in three years. He also assisted the goal scored by Chukwuma Agor against Shooting Stars in the League.
Besides his goals, his general contributions to the team towered him above his teammates last month despite the excellent form of Molokwu who scored an acrobatic goal against Rivers United and Emmanuel Charles who provided a calming influence to Heartland FC midfield in most of the games he played.
The unyielding passion of Chukwuma Agor to put his body and all he has on the line for his teammates is worthy of commendation and the match winning performance of John Bassey against Shooting Stars was also crucial.
Imo SWAN must also acknowledge the goalkeeping heroics of Kelvin Ogunga whose crucial saves kept Heartland in the games played last month. Bobo Chibuike is also another upcoming star who has defied age to make his presence felt for the club especially in cup games.
Lawal will be presented with the award plague and a token prize money courtesy of an anonymous sponsor on Sunday shortly before the start of Heartland versus Bayelsa United game at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri.
He will be the first player to benefit from the prize money that will now be a routine until the end of the season.
It should be recalled that Peters Afolayan (September), Ebuka Nwokoecha (October), Surajudeen Lawal (November), Christian Molokwu (December) and Anthony Omaka (January, 2025) were previous winners of the award.
Imo SWAN Heartland FC Player of the Month Award is solely organised by Cosmos Chukwuemeka led Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, Imo Chapter with the support of an anonymous sponsor and it is with the aim of rewarding the most outstanding Heartland FC player every month until the end of the season when the Imo SWAN Heartland FC Player of the Season would be unveiled.
The Association is still open to more sponsorship from individual and corporate organisations within and outside Imo State who are of the State origin to ensure the award experience a rebirth with the potential sponsor(s) getting the value for their investments.
