Sunshine Stars FC of Akure on Sunday in match day 22 of the Group A of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) defeated visiting Mountain of Fire Ministry (MFM) FC 4-2 to escape relegation.
The first half of the match played at the Ondo State Sports Complex, Akure ended 3-1 in favour of the home team.
Dayo Ojo converted a penalty kick in the 16th minute to put the home team ahead, after MFM’s defender was penalised for handling the ball in goal area.
Ojo converted another penalty kick in the 23rd minute to increase the tally.
However, MFM’s Alade Balogun pulled one back in the 30th minute to ensure the team were back in the game, before Anthony Omaka restored the two-goal lead of Sunshine in the 45th minute of the match.
Ojo later completed his hat-trick in the 90th minute by scoring a scramble from inside the 18-yards to ensure the two-goal parity was restored for the match to end 4-2.
Anthony Omaka, Sunshine Stars’ midfielder told newsmen at a post match conference that he was proud of the performance of his teammates.
“The entire state know the importance of the match, which led to the massive support during the game and am sure the team will go back to the drawing board,” he said.
Sunshine Stars finished 8th on the table.
The Four teams that are relegated from group A are -Bendel Insurance FC, Kwara United FC, Niger Tornadoes FC and Remo Stars FC.
