NPFL: Pillars fall on Peoples’ Elephants as Abia Warriors anticipate tough games against Bayelsa United

NPFL: Pillars fall on Peoples’ Elephants as Abia Warriors anticipate tough games against Bayelsa United

Abia Warriors defender Collins Nwoburuoke is looking forward to a tough battle against Bayelsa United in their opening fixture for the second stanza.

Nwoburuoke believed that Bayelsa United would be desperate to make up for their home defeat in the reverse fixture.

Abia Warriors defeated Bayelsa United 1-0 in a matchday 19 fixture in Yenagoa.

Abia Warriors will lock horns with Bayelsa United in the return leg at the Umuahia Township Stadium this weekend.

“We have adequately prepared for the game and we know it won’t be an easy one for us,” Nwoburuoke stated in a pre-match interview.

“We know Bayelsa United will be aiming to come to Umuahia to take their pound of flesh after beating them in Yenagoa.

“It’s not going to be an easy game.”

Elsewhere, a goal in each half by Kano Pillars forward, Abba Adam, was enough for the Sai Masu Gida to secure a 2-0 victory over fellow Nigeria Premier Football League giants Enyimba in a rescheduled match-day 14 game on Thursday.

 Adam gave the hosts the lead in the 26th minute and added the second in the 72nd minute.

The rescheduled fixture didn’t disappoint, attracting a fully packed Sani Abacha Stadium despite being a midweek game.

The added flavour to the game was the involvement of two 2013 AFCON winners, Ahmed Musa who captained Kano Pillars and Brown Ideye who came on as a second-half substitute for Enyimba.

However, both players couldn’t get their names on the score sheet.

The hosts got off to a flying start in front of their fans, with Zulkifilu Muhammad heading inches wide from Rabiu Ali’s corner in the fifth minute.

Pillars’ breakthrough came in the 26th minute when Adam was freed by a long ball from Ibrahim Inuwa and the striker beat his marker before slotting past Zali Abdullahi.

After Adam’s opener, the affair was mostly cagey until the 72nd minute when the forward doubled the hosts lead with his fourth goal of the season.

As a result, Kano Pillars have now moved to the seventh position on the log with 28 points from 19 games while Enyimba sit a point behind them with a game at hand.

Although the nine-time champions, Enyimba, still have a game at hand, the rescheduled match-day 14 game ushers in the start of the second stanza of the 2024/25 season after a three-week mid-season break.