Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin on Sunday started their new home campaign at the Ondo State Sports Complex in Akure with a 2-0 victory over El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

Kwara United were compelled to find a new home ground after the NPFL organisers deemed their Kwara State Sports Complex venue in Ilorin unsuitable. They used the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan in the first round of the 2022/2023 NPFL campaign before relocating to Akure for the second round.

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In this Group A Match Day 10 fixture, the first half of the game ended goalless. However, Anthony Omaka scored the first goal of the game in the 78th minute during a goalmouth scramble, before Samad Kabir sealed victory in the 89th minute.

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After the match, Kwara United’s Head Coach, Kabir Dogo, expressed his appreciation to football fans in Akure for their solidarity and support. He commended his players for their resilience throughout the encounter, considering the league competition’s difficulty as an abridged one.

His El-Kanemi Warriors counterpart, Hamza Abara, admitted his team was not expecting the outcome of the encounter.

Abara, however, attributed their defeat to fatigue resulting from the long distance between Maiduguri and Akure, which made their arrival late on Saturday and prevented them from having a proper training session before the game.