Sporting FC Pick NPFL Ticket, As EFCC Delay Kano Pillars' Party

Sporting FC Pick NPFL Ticket, As EFCC Delay Kano Pillars' Party

By Admin

Sporting FC of Lagos with two wins in two games were the first team to qualify to play in the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League, having won their first two matches in the play-off, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

Sporting FC had on Sunday pipped FC One Rocket FC 1-0 in the first before handing a 2-0 victory to South-West rivals Stommers SC of Abeokuta on Match-day 2 of the Nigeria National League (NNL) Play-offs.

The two victories at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba were enough for the Lagos based club to pick the ticket for their first NPFL season.

Earlier, Mubarak Sani and Abdullahi Haruna got the goals for four-time NPFL champions, Kano Pillars as they laid down the marker by beating helpless DMD FC of Maiduguri 2-0 to inch closer to an early return to the NPFL, after making it two wins from two matches.

The Playoffs Match-Day 2 started on a frenetic note, with EFCC FC of Abuja producing the first major upset at the play-offs when racing to a 2-0 lead, before Katsina United halved the deficit to end the encounter 2-1.

Abdulkareem Ammar's first half brace for EFCC FC gave them an improbable lead, before former Enyimba of Aba player, Victor Mbaoma scored his third goal in two matches for the Chanji Boys, who must now beat bitter rivals, Kano Pillars in their last group game on Wednesday, to stand a chance of gaining promotion.

With Kano Pillars topping the Northern Conference League table with 6 points in two matches, Monday’s win gave EFCC FC 3 points, same as Katsina United, while DMD FC have zero point, going into the final match of the group on Wednesday.

The promotion won by Sporting Lagos with one match to spare against Heartland, marks the first ever time they will be playing in the Premier League, as they continue to receive praise for bringing top flight football back to Lagos, following the demotion and subsequent disbandment of MFM FC at the end of the 2021/22 season. 

The other promotion slot in the Southern Conference is presently occupied by Heartland of Owerri, for whom Olasunkanmi Quadri scored a 15th minute to edge FC ONE Rocket FC of Abat 1-0, to take their points tally to 4, having drawn goalless with Stommers SC on Sunday.