NPFL Match day 14 Group B review
With a few previously postponed matches were played during the week, teams from Group B of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) were in action this weekend in Round 14, now halfway through the season.
After thrashing Delta Force 4:1 mid-week, Nasarawa United were again in front of the home crowd in Damaturu, hosting FC Ifeanyi Ubah. This time the fans saw only one goal, but it was for their team. Anas Yusuf scored the winning goal in the 60th minute. The visitors played the last few seconds of the encounter with ten men, after a red card.
With three victories in a row and four in five matches, Nasarawa have now moved up to fifth place, three points behind the leaders. The visitors suffer their third defeat in five matches and drop one place to third.
Yobe Stars snap a three-game losing streak with a goalless draw with Delta Force at the Damaturu Town Stadium. A point wasn’t enough to move them from the bottom of Group B, while Delta Force stay seventh.
Plateau United and Heartland met at the New Stadium in Jos. The game didn’t offer much in terms of goals with final score a goalless draw. Both teams keep their spots in the standings, next to each other in eighth and ninth.
Last weekend El-Kanemi Warriors managed to climb on top of Group B. This weekend they travelled to the Sani Abacha Stadium to play the home side Kano Pillars. And it was the hosts who opened the score eight minutes from kick-off through Mohammed Gambo.
Kano Pillars FC (kanopillars.com)
But, only a couple of minutes after the restart, the Warriors levelled the score after Isiaka Olawale scored only his second goal of the season. Two thirds into the game, pillars coach made all three of his changes to try and win this match. And it was one of the substitutions who got the winning goal in the 61st minute, David Ebuka.
The Pillars are now fourth in the table, but only two points behind the leaders. El-Kanemi Warriors stint at the top was cut shorts as they dropped to second place.
Omoku based Go Round pulled out an important win against Abia Warriors at the Krisdera Hotel Stadium. One goal decided the winner and it came in the 78th minute courtesy of Chidubem Nwogbaba. It was enough to hand the visitors their third straight loss and move the home team into sixth place.
Akwa United is the new leader of NPFL Group B after beating Gombe United 2:0 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo. The visitors, to their credit, held on for a long time, preventing the hosts to get a good chance. It took 74 minutes for the home team to get on the score sheet. The referee awarded them a penalty which Cyril Olisemah easily converted.
The second goal came late in the game after Wisdom Fernandon put the goal in the net in the third minute of stoppage time. While Akwa United went top of the table with now three wins in four games, Gombe United stay second from bottom.