Ibadan-based side, 3SC, on Wednesday put up an improved display at the MKO Abiola International Stadium in Abeokuta to defeat Kano Pillars by 2 – 1 on matchday 24 of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL).
The win for Fatai Amoo’s men ended the five-game unbeaten streak of Kano Pillars in the topflight.
Sunday Adeyemi and Gbolahan Salami got the goals inside the hour-mark for the home side before big striker, Gambo Mohammed pulled one back for Kano Pillars.
But before the match, officials and fans of the home side were seen complaining bitterly about the centre referee, Mohammed Saleh from Bauchi, coming from the northern part of the country.
When the match got underway, it was the Oluyole Warriors that pegged back Pillars and on five minutes, Salami missed a close range opportunity to hand 3SC an early lead.
Four minutes later, it was the turn of Adeyemi to turn another good chance wide, as Pillars struggled to get a grip on the game.
Kano Pillars were reduced to square passes in the middle of the park, as Amoo’s side closed down every space in the middle and at the back.
On 28 minutes, Adeyemi scored when he turned in a cross from the left channel of Pillars’ goal after the defenders of the away side failed to clear to hand 3SC a one-nil lead into the first half that looked one-sided for longer spells.
But Sani Haliru in goal for Pillars deserved some credit for ensuring that the scoreline remained just a goal into half time.
Kano Pillars came close to grabbing the equaliser six minutes into the restart through Nasir Ibrahim, who fluffed the opportunity.
Four minutes later, Salami made sure that Pillars paid the price for failing to score through Ibrahim when he rose to nod from Taofeek Adepoju’s corner kick.
The goal spurred Bosso to throw centre-back, Abdulwasiu Showemimo, into the fray for Gabriel Reuben, who had a game he would want to forget in a hurry.
Kano Pillars’ forward, Mohammed handed his side a lifeline with 25 minutes to play in the match.
From that point, Kano Pillars took charge of the game and poured forward in numbers to get the leveller, as 3SC appeared to tire out.
The last quarter of the game ended in the half of 3SC, as they held on for a nervy win over Kano Pillars.
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