28th April, 2019
Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin beat city rivals ABS FC 3-2 on penalty kicks after regulation time ended 1-1 on Saturday in the final of the state’s FA Cup competition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the match played at the Kwara Stadium Complex in Ilorin, Kwara United drew the first blood in the 75th minute.
That was when Shamsudeen Hashim jabbed home a Mutiu Oladejo cross from close range.
Oladejo had capitalised on a defensive blunder by Godwin Abah, who miscalculated while attempting to push the ball away from his marker, won possession for Hashim to utilise.
But Alao Danbani evened the scoreline three minutes later when he nodded the ball past goalkeeper Jonah Usman.
James Elemike had completed a beautiful ABS FC move, and his cross into the Kwara United penalty area was well met by Danbani with a header.
Both sides missed many scoring opportunities during the course of the match, but Kwara United were guiltier of being wasteful.
Goalkeeper Nasiru Toheeb was almost becoming the day’s hero when he stopped two penalty kicks during the shootout, but his teammates missed two kicks too to give Kwara United the edge.
Kwara United’s victory made it five wins in a row for them, after having won the state final from 2015 till date.
The last time ABS FC won the title was in 2014 when they beat Kwara United to lift the trophy.