The Nigeria National League (NNL) Super Eight playoffs resumed on Friday after a series of postponement and force majeure. Group A encounter between Gombe United and DMD was suspended due to torrential rainfall on Wednesday, which eventually forced the final game of the day between Bendel Insurance and Ekiti United to be shifted to Thursday.
However, news broke out after the earlier decision that there’s a planned IPOB sit-at-home slated for Thursday which forced the league body to swiftly move the games to Friday.
Gombe United were leading DMD 1-0 before play was suspended at the 65th minute and when the game resumed on Friday, no other goal was scored as Alege Abdulquadri’s goal in the first half secured all three points for the Savannah Scorpions.
Meanwhile, in the eagerly anticipated clash between Bendel Insurance and Ekiti United, two goals in the final ten minutes wasn’t enough to separate the two sides. Substitute Imade Osarenkhoe’s powerful finish had earlier given the Benin Arsenals the lead in the cagey fixture before a late penalty from Pius Chikodi levelled the scoring for the Ekiti side to end the game 1-1.
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In a related development, the League body announced a change in time and venue for the remaining match day three games, classification game and the final.
In addition, the UNEC stadium has been added to the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium to ensure final group games are devoid of any form of irregularities by having them played simultaneously.
For Group A’s final games – DMD v Elkanemi and Niger Tornadoes v Gombe United – both games will be played at the Cathedral and UNEC stadium respectively at 10am. While the other group’s games – Shooting Stars v Ekiti United and Remo Stars v Bendel Insurance – will be played by 3pm.
Going into the final group games, Niger Tornadoes and Gombe United are favourites to progress from Group A, while Shooting Stars and Remo Stars hold the advantage in Group B.
Meanwhile, the classification game and the final to determine who wins the second division title for the 2020/21 season has been fixed for 8am and 10am on Sunday respectively.
NNL Super 8 Saturday’s Fixtures:
Northern Conference
DMD FC vs Elkanemi Warriors – 10am – Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium
Gombe Utd vs Niger Tornadoes 10am – UNEC
Southern Conference
Remo Stars vs Bendel Insurance – 3pm – Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium
Shooting Stars vs Ekiti United – 3pm – UNEC
NNL Super 8 Sunday’s Fixtures:
Classification Game
Runner Up Group A v Runner Up Group B – 8am
Final
Winner Group A v Winner Group B – 10am
By: Samuel Areo in Enugu
