Nigeria Content Online

The final leg of
the Gulder Five-a-side began in full swing on Monday at the Gymnasium
Complex of the National Institute of Sports (NIS).

In the opening
match of the day, 410 Planners of Ajegunle edged a resilient FUTA of
Akure 3-2. Planners drew first blood in the 11 minute through Alozie
Agbayi. The Ajegunle lads held the lead till the end of the first half.
The situation changed in the opening minutes of the second when Tiamiyu
Oladipupo displaced Planners keeper, after collecting a pass from one
of his team mates.

Moments later,
Happy Akonoka restored lead for Planners, after careless defending by
the FUTA defence gave him an opening to exploit. The lead did not last
for long as Abbo Pius, displacing his marker just inside the Planners
eighteen, rifled home a shot, which left Planners keeper stranded.

Planners won the
game in the dying minutes of the game through Akonoka. In the second
match of the day, Talent Builders of Lagos Island beat a determined
Federal Medical Centre of Abeokuta 2-1. Idris Salami’s brace, scored in
the first half and closing moments of the game, secured victory for
Lagos while the Egba lads were left to rue their fate, despite hitting
target courtesy of Quadri Balogun in the second half.

Other matches were
being played at the time this report was filed. Meanwhile, Planners
face Talent Builders today to determine who will join other teams in
the round-robin stage, which will see the six teams that made it out of
the knock-out phase placed into two groups, with the top two teams from
each group making it to the semi-final.

The tournament, which began in March this year, will draw to a close
this Saturday with the winners getting N5 million and runners-up, N2
million.