The U-15 Shooting Stars Sports Club, 3SC and Remo Stars teams have sixty minutes playing time ahead to clinch the trophy as they both battle in the final of the 2022 Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL LA LIGA U-15 Promises Youth League, billed to hold on Sunday, 8 May, 2022 at the home ground of Remo Stars in Ikenne, Ogun State.
The road to the final saw both teams scale through the hurdles from the group stages to the knock out stages; quarter and semifinals and to eye the trophy in the finals.
For the Oluyole’s boys, they finished at the top in group B after the trashed Enyimba International in their first match, 7-1 and played a 1-1 draw against the defending champion Katsina United who finished their race at the semi finals to zoom to the next round. They played two matches in the group stage because they were three in the group.
In the quarter final, the Ibadan lord soccer boys triumphed into the semifinals after they edged out Sunshine Stars of Akure 2-1 to face Katsina United again who they defeated 2-1 to secure their spot in the finals.
To Remo Stars, they began their journey in the tournament at their home ground with a match against Abia Warriors who they pummeled 5-0 and got the maximum three points in their second match against Kwara United, finishing 3-1.
But in their third match during the group stage, the young Sky Blue Stars’ boys lost to Gombe United who humiliated them, 4-1, however, they qualified to the next round finishing at the top with six points.
The next round in the quarterfinal against Mountain of Fire Miracles, MFM FC was a stroll in the pack to the boys as they won the Lagos based club 3-1 to face Kano Pillars who they crushed out 2-0 to seal their place in the final.
Reaction of 3SC Coach Ahead of the Match
In a chat with sportxvibe.com.ng, 3SC coach Jelili Oladoja said his boys have prepared to get the victory against Remo Stars in their match tomorrow, adding that playing against the host team would not deterred their determination to win the trophy.
“We have really prepared for them on our own, we have come here to win the cup, thank God, we are in the final. Despite the fact we are playing with the host team, it does not matter, we need to give our best and by the grace of God, we are going to carry the trophy.” He said.
He revealed that he watched his opponent’s last match against Kano Pillars which ended 2-0, and have identified their weaknesses, adding that his team know what to do.
“We have already discussed with our boys, we watched their (Remo Stars) game, we watch their loopholes and weakness and we know what we are going to do but we are not going to say any thing than we are ready for the game.” He said.
Asked about his team scoring late in their last match, he said: “What happened in the last games was that we changed our pattern but when we now though that the thing did not work, I and my coach decided that this did not work, it is best we change to another style, and when we change to another style, we saw that it worked out, finally, we got the goal at the last minutes.”
Third Place Match Between Katsina United and Kano Pillars
Katsina United would slug it out against Kano Pillars in the third place of the tournament. The two teams suffered from the hands of the finalists: Remo Stars and 3SC respectively to settle for the third-place match.
The match would be played before the final.