Thrills, Frills As Clubs Renew Hostilities In NPFL

As the much expected 2017/2018 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) finally kicked off on January 13, it was not short of the thrills and frills that accompany the opening matches as the much expected drama ensued.
The 2017/2018 NPFL opening match was opened with a rekindled Northern rivalry of league returnee, Kastina United and Kano Pillars.
Kano Pillars are regarded as old powerhouse of the league as they have a rich history having been four-time winners in 2007/2008, 2011/2012, 2013/2014.
The match, however, as expected brought to the fore the resilience of Kano Pillars to grind a result out of the Mohammadu Dikko Stadium in Kastina.
The Changi Boys would not also like to let the home fans down by protecting their ego and maintaining decent result.
At the end, the game ended 2-2 with a 33rd minute stunning goal from Junior Lokossa first goal of the season for the NPFL and the Sai Masu Gida side.
Although Kano Pillars were made to play the rest of the league with 10 men after one of the players, Dennis, was sent off.
Kastina United then took the opportunity to equalise on the dead of the half time. At the start of the second half, Ibrahim Alhassan put Kano Pillars ahead again in the 60th minute.
The parity was, however, restored again at the dead of the added minutes through a penalty converted by Ashadi to ensure that the home side earned a share of the spoil.
It was noted that the match witnessed two penalties awarded to the home side. The first was confidently saved by Muhammed Hassaini in the 83rd minute.
The first match of the league was almost marred by a reported violence as the home team supporters were not happy with the result of the game.
The rest games played on Sunday witnessed the return of the expected fireworks as some of the high flying teams last season ensured a continuation from where they stopped.
The inspiring result was recorded on Sunday as the 2016/2017 NPFL winners, Plateau United FC of Jos, took off in a blistering start by recording an away victory at Nasarawa United’s fortress.
The Peace Boys were able to defeat the home team 1-0 courtesy of a lone strike by Raphael Ayagwa.
Speaking after the game, Plateau United’s gaffer, Kennedy Boboye, said that it won’t be out of place for the team to successfully defend the title they won last season.
However, in order to realise this, the team still has a long way to hit as about 34 matches ahead will determine who wears the NPFL crown.
Also, another big result came from the Ilorin centre as goals from Eric Frimpong and Ibrahim Babawo of Niger Tornadoes stunned the homers, Kwara United.
The Harmony Boys, the Nigeria National League (NNL) returnee were spanked by their neighbours 2-0; the result was also the heaviest home defeat among the first games of the season.