Abia Comets Football Club of Umuahia, emerged as the runners-up of the inaugural Abia State Governor’s NALCOMA Pre season tournament, which was held at the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba.
The tournament, which featured six team from South-East region, brought a lot of fireworks with a thrilling final, as Comets were unable to end the tournament as champions after 4-3 penalties shoot-out lost to owerri based club, Kun Khalifat FC in the final, with the regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw.
It was a shocking scene, as the newly NNL promoted team took the lead, in the 67th minute, through a strike by Samuel Awurum. However Comets levelled the scoreline 1-1 through a late minute strike by defender, Bright Ogbonna, forcing the game to be decided on penalties.
In the penalty shoot-out, Abia Comets FC managed to converted three out of their five penalties, while Kun Khalifat FC converted four penalties and were crowned the champions.
Speaking shortly after the game, Our head coach, Okechukwu Ejeh expressed disappointment over the outcome of the game, but says that the team will be ready for the first game of the season away at Edel FC, early next month.
” we’re really disappointed not to win the trophy, but it was a difficult game, and there’s some things we failed to do better in the game, Ejeh said.
” However, we still have three weeks to prepare better for our first game of the season, I believe that the team will be ready for the first game of the season against Edel FC.”
At the conclusion of the tournament, George Aluo, Chairman of the Nigeria National League (NNL), commended Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, for his unwavering support of youth sports. He encouraged the teams to take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the tournament to refine their squads ahead of the upcoming league season, set to begin on November 30.
Our chairman Chief Boniface Alozie Uche, the NALCOMA representative in the NNL Board, also praised Governor Otti for his commitment to the development of youth football.
He expressed optimism that the teams would benefit greatly from the tournament, helping them make the necessary adjustments before the commencement of the 2024/25 NNL season.
The four-day tournament saw participation from six teams: Abia Comets FC (Umuahia), Kun Khalifat FC (Owerri), Edel FC (Awka), Solution FC (Awka), Diamond FA (Umuahia), and Uchecaria FC (Aba).