FC Ifeanyi Ubah continued their unbeaten start to the season while Heartland FC secured the result of Match-day three with a one-nil victory at Nasarawa United on a day that Segun Alebiosu redeemed himself for Kwara United and fan violence against match officials reared its ugly head again in Sagamu, home of Remo Stars.
Eighteen goals were scored in total from the eight matches played on Sunday and while Plateau United secured their first win of the season at the Ilorin Township Stadium where they have been temporarily banished on account of fan violence, events at the home ground of another team that may yet get a taste of the Plateau medicine, marred matchday 3.
Charles Omokaro had put visitors Bendel Insurance ahead on 54 minutes at the Gateway International Stadium before striker Victor Mbaoma equalised for Remo in the 76th minute.
All hell then broke loose at the blast of the final whistle when home fans descended on match officials with centre referee Bethel Nwanesi severely battered and left with a gaping head wound.
It is a worrying development for the side which just returned to the NPFL after a year down in the second tier and shows an unwillingness to change after they were fined and forced to play behind closed doors following a similar incident the last time they were in the League in 2017.
After managing just one clean sheet in their previous twenty-one matches, Heartland FC have now gone two games without conceding after they ran out one nil victors in Lafia against Nasarawa United.
‘The Naze Millionaires’ had walloped Plateau United three-nil in their previous game and took the lead through 17-year-old forward, Samuel Nwoshiri’s debut goal in the 15th minute and held on to the lead till the end of the match.
It was a goal fest at the Ilorin Township Stadium where an estimated 5,000 strong crowd turned up to witness Segun Alebiosu score a brace to give Kwara United a come from behind victory over Enyimba and secure the first win for Bala Abubakar’s side.
Ibrahim Mustapha put the Aba side ahead in the 16th minute but Segun Alebiosu restored parity for Kwara in the 31st minute with his first goal of the season. Joseph Osadiaye then restored Enyimba’s lead from the spot with Alebiosu again equalizing in the 61st minute and Mohammed Usman scoring the winner in the 73rd minute.
It was a redemptive performance for Alebiosu who will hope this marks a turning point after a nightmarish start to the season that has seen him miss a penalty and score an own goal in his team’s first two matches.
Earlier in Ilorin, Abdu Maikaba recorded his first win for Plateau United who seemed not to miss the suspended Gabriel Wassa with second-half goals from Saeed Jibrin and Bernard Ovoke giving them a two-nil victory over El-Kanemi Warriors.
Kada City emerged victorious over Gombe United in a battle of newly promoted sides, with goals from Umar Mohammed and Sadiq Suleiman giving the Kaduna based team a 2 – 1 victory over Gombe for whom Ibrahim Enesi bagged a debut goal.
Wikki Tourists secured a 2 – 1 victory over Niger Tornadoes in Bauchi with Aminu Ahmad and Abba Umar hitting the target for the hosts and Ismaila Sarki grabbing a consolatory effort for the visitors deep into second-half additional time.
Akwa United secured their first point of the season with a one all draw away to Kano Pillars at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano. Olorunleke Ojo paid for his costly howler on the opening day of the season with Jean Efala taking his place between the sticks.
Ndifreke Effiong broke his goalscoring duck for ‘The Promise Keepers’ when he put them ahead in the 20th minute but Chris Madaki nodded past Efala in the 41st minute to put ‘Sai Masu Gida’ on level terms and ensure a share of the spoils.
FC Ifeanyiubah traveled to Omoku having secured four points and two clean sheets from their opening two matches and duly kept another clean sheet as they held Go Round FC to a goalless draw.
2018/2019 NPFL MATCH-DAY 3 RESULTS.
GROUP A.
Kwara United 3-2 Enyimba
(Segun Alebiosu 31′, 61′; Usman Mohammed 73′ – Ibrahim Mustapha 16′, Joseph Osadiaye 58′ (pen))
Remo Stars 1-1 Bendel Insurance
(Victor Mbaoma 76′ – Charles Omokaro 54′)
Wikki Tourists 2-1 Niger Tornadoes
(Aminu Ahmad 46′, Abba Umar 83′ – Ismaila Sarki 90+4′)
GROUP B
Kada City 2-1 Gombe United
(Umar Mohammed 19′, Sadiq Suleiman 22′ – Ibrahim Enesi 20′)
Kano Pillars 1-1 Akwa United
(Chris Madaki 41′ – Ndifreke Effiong 20′)
Nasarawa United 0-1 Heartland
(Samuel Nwoshiri 15′)
Plateau United 2-0 El-Kanemi
(Saheed Jibril, Bernard Ovoke (p))
Go Round 0-0 FC Ifeanyi Ubah
