… One point away from League shield
By Paul Erewuba
Plateau United will tomorrow at the Rwang Pam Stadium in Jos, confront reigning League champions, Enugu Rangers in Matchday 38 of the NPFL.
The Jos – based outfit are leading the pack with 63 points after 37 matches, while last season’s winners Enugu Antelopes are 9th on the log with 53 points after 37 games also.
Interestingly, this is the last match of the season and all the teams seem to have one thing or the other to do with the three maximum points at stake.
For Rangers, they may not necessarily be fighting for the title but they would be playing for pride to see if they could outwit either FC IfeanyiUbah, Nasarawa United or Lobi Stars who are all on 53 points also to gain vantage position.
And this, Plateau United is aware of.
Plateau United are hotly chased by MFM who are second on the table with 62 points just one point behind them. It therefore follows that a draw or loss by the Jos team could knock them out of the title, if MFM should win their game away to El-Kanemi in Maiduguri.
Plateau United’s fairytale in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) would be complete if they get the job done over Rangers at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos.
Indeed, many did not give the Kennedy Boboye – coached side a chance at the start of the season. But the side is unarguably the standout team of the season.
They definitely need a win, irrespective of what happens in the game involving second-placed MFM to lay their hands on a first ever NPFL title.
To triumph, they will have to do all they can to put smiles on the faces of Jos fans who have had to endure almost two decades of trophy-less outing.
No major title has come to Jos since the 1999 Federation Cup (now Aiteo Cup) when Donatus Iloka’s solitary goal crowned Plateau United winners of the Cup.
With Plateau having their destiny in their own hands, the die is cast. They are just one point away from grabbing the League shield.