FRESH VIOLENCE YET AGAIN IN NPL

Though the Week 22 matches of the Nigeria Premier League were keenly contested, the sour point was the violence in Bauchi where Wikki Tourist played host to El-Kanemi Warriors.

Despite repeated pleas for decorum in stadia across the country, fans of Bauchi-based Wikki Tourist, reportedly attacked centre referee Sylvester Okobi on Sunday, before he was later rescued by the Police as visiting northern neighbours El-Kanemi Warriors were enjoying a slim 1-0 lead with 80th minutes of action already gone in the League match between the two teams.

Also in Akure, the match between Sunshine Stars and Kwara Unite d started behind schedule as the visiting team raised eyebrows over the security situation in the stadium, the match later went on with no reported violence and the host Sunshine stars smiled away with a 3-1 victory.

In other centres, Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt bounced back from their Federation Cup exit to secure a valuable point on the road as they held their host, Shooting Stars of Ibadan to a 0-0 draw in one of Sunday's Glo Nigeria Premier League Week 22 matches.

The game in Ibadan was played behind closed doors as the Oluyole Warriors begin their three-match stadium ban slammed on them by the League Management Committee (LMC) owing to earlier crowd trouble.

Despite not having their fans in the stands to cheer them on, Shooting Stars created a lot of chances on Sunday but failed to convert any and even missed a penalty kick awarded to them.

Failure to get maximum points from home will not augur well for 3SC who are now gradually slipping into the relegation zone with speculations also mounting that the technical crew of the team may be booted out.

In Enugu, Ugonna Uzochukwu of Rangers scored a wonderful goal that should compete for the goal of the season before Meshack Chukwuike sealed a 2-0 victory for the Flying Antelopes over visiting Nembe City.

Sunday's victory means Rangers did a double over Nembe having won the reverse fixture earlier in the season in Yenegoa.

In the fixture played in Port Harcourt, Sharks secured a 2-1 win over Kaduna United to ease their relegation fears while in Lafia Nassarawa were forced to a 1-1 draw by Enyimba.

ABS piped Gombe United 1-0 and Akwa United down Lobi Stars 2-1 in the day's last fixture.