BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE, LAGOS
ABIA VALIANT got their first win of the PRUDENT ENERGY HANDBALL LEAGUE phase two in a MATCH DAY 10 fixture decided at the ROWE PARK SPORTS CENTER, YABA Lagos on Monday.
The UMUAHIA based team, who are second from bottom of the log in the female category defeated bottom team OWENA QUEENS 28-27 in a game that was a battle of relegated threatened teams. This is the second victory in the league, the first coming in phase one which was held in Abuja earlier in the year.
In other matches of the female category, EDO DYNAMOS lost an opportunity to overtake SAFETY BABES as they lost out to the league leaders, 27-24 while DEFENDER BABES defeated DESERT QUEENS 33-25.
SEASIDER BABES did not disappoint their fans and the watching Minister of sports and youth development MR. SUNDAY DARE who graced the day with his presence as they defeated KADA QUEENS 27-25 while PLATEAU PEACOCKS, despite being behind in the first half, defeated an experience IMO GRASSHOPPERS side 26-23.
In the men category, NIGER UNITED are still the third placed team on the league standing despite effectively seeing off a resilient PRISON KEY BOYS team with a 38-34 victory while SOKOTO RIMA showed the watching minister of sport the best of handball as they defeated OWENA KINGS 35-30.
KANO PILLARS had to dig deep to defeat KADA STARS 34-30 in a battle of the north to remain atop the league standing while PLATEAU VIPERS were the banana peel that stopped SAFETY SHOOTERS from jumping into first place with a 18-16 victory.
DE DEFENDER made a mincemeat of BORNO SPIDERS as they defeated the MAIDUGURI based team 32-22 while COAS SHOOTERS and LAGOS SEASIDERS had to share the spoils as they played out a pulsating, suspense filled 29-29 draw to the delight of fans who watched at the ROWE PARK SPORTS CENTER.
ANDREW DANIEL of PLATEAU VIPERS and INEGBEDION FAITH of EDO DYNAMOS, despite her team losing slimly, were voted the Most Valuable Player of the month in the male and female category respectively.
MATCHDAY 10 RESULTS
ABIA VALIANTS–OWENA QUEENS 28-27
PRISON KEY BOYS–NIGER UNITED 34-38
EDO DYNAMOS–SAFETY BABES 24-27.
DESERT QUEENS–DEFENDER BABES 25-33
KADA QUEENS–SEASIDER BABES 25-27
SOKOTO RIMA–OWENA KINGS 35-30.
KANO PILLARS–KADA STARS 34-30.
SAFETY SHOOTERS–PLATEAU VIPERS 16-18
IMO GRASSHOPPERS–PLATEAU PEACOCKS 23-26.
D:DEFENDERS–BORNO SPIDERS 32-22
COAS SHOOTERS–LAGOS SEASIDERS 29-29.
DAY 11 FIXTURES.
DEFENDER BABES VS SEASIDER BABES
PLATEAU VIPERS VS KANO PILLARS
EDO DYNAMOS VS ABIA VALIANTS
NIGER UNITED VS BORNO SPIDERS
DESERT QUEENS VS OWENA QUEENS
KADA QUEENS VS PLATEAU PEACOCKS
SAFETY BABES VS IMO GRASSHOPPERS
PRISON KEY BOYS VS COAS SHOOTERS
SOKOTO RIMA VS KADA STARS
OWENA KINGS VS LAGOS SEASIDERS
ABIA VALIANTS VS GHANA POLICE
SAFETY SHOOTERS VS D:DEFENDERS
