Abuja- Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) on Wednesday in Abuja thrashed Kwali Area Council 6-1 to qualify for the zonal elimination competition of the maiden President’s Cup Football Tournament.
In the match played at the Area 3 pitch, Kwali took the lead as early as the third minute through Ishaku Abdulrahman.
But they could not hold on to the lead for too long, with Francis Nwankwo drawing AMAC level in the 27th minute.
However, Musa Omoye gave AMAC the lead in the 35th minute, with Ofoze Chidiebere making it 3-1 for AMAC seven minutes into the second half.
Nwankwo got his second goal of the day in the 54th minute, while Stanley Ojobo made it 5-1 in the 79th minute before Chidiebere sealed victory for AMAC in the 88th minute.
Coach of Kwali, George Gabriel, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after the match that his team lost to a better side.
He however said most of his players sustained injuries before the match.
“We played against a very good side. But, beside that, majority of my players sustained injuries and they could not play today (Wednesday), and we just have to play the match like that.
“However, I was not expecting much from the players, and I am not really disappointed,’’ Gabriel said.
On his part, the AMAC coach, Gambo Danlami, said his team won the match by reading and understanding their opponents’ tactics in previous matches.
“I watched most of our opponents’ very recent matches and I read the matches to understand their style of play.
“After watching those matches, I went back to teach my players the technicalities of what I saw, in terms of attacking and defending.
“That is what gave us the advantage today (Wednesday),’’ Danlami said.
He said his team would start work in earnest ahead of the zonal qualifiers, so as to proceed to the next stage.
“We will start to work hard from now, to ensure that we progress from the zonal elimination. We promise to make FCT proud,’’ Danlami said.
NAN reports that the zonal elimination competition of the President’s Cup Football Tournament for all the six geo-political zones will hold from Jan. 9 to Jan. 13, 2015.
The North-Central zonal elimination competition will hold in Lokoja, Kogi.(NAN)
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