Abia Warriors played themselves back in contention for a top-three finish in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) with a 2-1 win over Niger Tornadoes at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba on Monday.
The match lived up to expectation as it was intriguing, intense, and interesting, giving spectators an edge-of-the-seat spectacle.
The visitors, who were beaten at home by Abia Warriors in the first meeting in Minna, were surely on a revenge mission as they clearly demonstrated from the beginning of proceedings, but it was the Warriors who had the final say in a hard-fought victory to quench the Ikon Allah’s determination.
Goals from Suraju Lawal and Casmir Azubuike gave Umu Chineke a 2-0 cushion, and a consolation strike by Joseph Godfrey settled a thrilling encounter.
Abia Warriors head coach, Imama Amapakabo, made two changes to the squad that played in the last league fixture in Kano, with Somiari Alalibo taking the place of Emmanuel Ogbuagu, while Odah Okiemute replaced Ali Ishaku in between the sticks.
Some spectators were still making their way into the arena when Umu Chineke took the lead in the seventh minute. Lawal received a pass from Casmir Azubuike in the midfield area, raced goal-wards before cutting inside to release a curling effort that came off the inside of the woodwork and landed into the net, leaving the visitors stunned and the teeming Warriors’ supporters in ecstasy.
The Minna club refused to lie low but went in search of the equalizer as they carved out chances of their own that failed to materialize.
The Warriors responded in equal measure as Paul Samson and Kunle Adeleke were unlucky not to get their names on the score sheet, while Lawal could not make it a brace when he failed to tap in Chukwuemeka Obioma’s cross from close range in the 36th minute.
The second half commenced with the same intensity as the first; both sides having a go at each other.
The hosts were forced to make a substitution in the 52nd minute of play when injured Alalibo was replaced by Ogbuagu, and the latter made the most of his introduction 12 minutes later.
The Warriors’ number five received a pass, raced into space and delivered a precise pass to Azubuike, who got himself into the visitors’ box, cut inside of his marker before burying the ball into the bottom right corner of Tornadoes goalkeeper Ifeanyi Nchekwube for the second goal of the game.
The visitors fought back and were rewarded in the 80th minute when the unmarked Joseph Godfrey was given time and space to shoot from the edge of the box. Godfrey’s goal reduced the deficit to one for Tornadoes.
Amapakabo threw on Chindi Merpring, Osahon Nelson and Omoge Ebenezer for Casmir Azubuike, Paul Samson, and Chukwuemeka Obioma, respectively, in a triple substitution to sustain the lead and secure the maximum points as they cap a thrilling encounter with a well-deserved victory.
The win puts Abia Warriors three points closer to the top-three in the NPFL table.
Up next, Abia Warriors play on the road against Enyimba at the Enyimba Stadium on Sunday, March 29, 2026 in the Abia Derby.
Niger Tornadoes will return to their Bako Kontagora Stadium in Minna to face Wikki Tourists.