The 4th edition of the annual Gusau/Ahlan Cup Preseason Football Tournament kicked-offs on a bright note, with the Nasarawa United trashing visibly dominated Si14 FC 5-0.
Nasarawa United began their onslaught against the Keffi-based Nationwide League One side in the 21st minute, when Chidera Nduka perfectly struck his free-kick that beat the wall and goalkeeper, Ahmed Abubakar.
Eleven minutes later, the NPFL side increased their goal tally to 2-0 with left back, Mubarak Hussaini, driving a ferocious shot into the roof of the net. Both sides returned to their changing rooms with scoreline in favour of the Solid Miners.
A minute into the second half, United made matters worse for their opponents as Omolayo Abiodun buried the ball past the grasp of the goalkeeper to take the goal advantage to 3-0. While SI14 were trying to regroup, disaster struck again, with Umar Adah tailoring his effort into the back of the net to bring score to 4-0.
United’s opponents would not go down without a fight. Ibrahim Ndala and Mustapha Olasunkami both called United’s goalkeeper, Ameh Godwin, into forced saves. However, the straw that broke the opponents’ backs came off their own central defender, Tochukwu Miracle, who bizarrely turned the ball into his own net in the 81st minute.
5-0 was the full-time score against Si14 as the Solid Miners signposted their title-winning intention with a massive victory, and tentatively topping their Group with three points.
Both teams will know their next opponents in the coming days.
