Match day two of the ongoing Nigeria National League (NNL) promotion playoffs was played at the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium in Enugu on Wednesday.
After an eventful opening day, hostilities resumed early on in the day as Elkanemi Warriors took on Niger Tornadoes in the day’s first game.
Tornadoes missed a host of chances in the first half against a struggling Warriors side who couldn’t cope with the intensity of the Minna side.
Meanwhile, Abubakar Bala’s men weren’t going to rue the chances as a goal from Daniel Edeh from the spot set them on their way to victory before Nurudeen Jimoh’s deft finish late on off Lukman Mohammed’s brilliant pass sealed the win.
The Ikon Allah Boys have now boosted their chances of gaining promotion into the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) for the 2021/22 season with the win.
In Group B, Shooting Stars and Remo Stars faced off in the group’s biggest fixture of the day. After a goalless first half, substitute Okachi Anthony calmly slotted past Remo goalie Bankole Kayode in the 75th minute to hand the Ibadan outfit the advantage.
After going a goal down, matters soon went from bad to worse for Remo as a host of key players went off injured, leaving the side with a huge mountain to climb. However, it was teenage sensation Agbeko Morgan who stepped up to save his side from the jaws of defeat with a powerful finish after his initial effort had been saved by 3SC goalie Dare Dede.
In the other games, Gombe United were leading DMD 1-0 before play was suspended due to heavy downpour. The remaining 22 minutes have been rescheduled for Friday same as Bendel Insurance v Ekiti United game which failed to go on due to the torrential rainfall and a proposed sit-at-home scheduled for Thursday in the South East.
With just one round of matches to go, Shooting Stars and Niger Tornadoes are nearing a return to the elite division for the first time since 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Results in full:
Niger Tornadoes 2-0 Elkanemi Warriors
Shooting Stars 1-1 Remo Stars
Gombe United 1-0* DMD (final 22 minuted to be played later)
Bendel Insurance P:P Ekiti United
By Samuel Areo in Enugu
