Nasarawa Amazons of Lafia on Thursday secured the quarter final berth at the 2023 Women’s Federation Cup following a hard earned Round of 16 2-1 win over North Central rivals, Naija Ratels in Lokoja.
The match played at the Confluence Stadium in Lokoja saw both sides in early exchange of possession but couldn’t make it count.
It was the Amazons who had their nose in front with Opara Chimemeberem scoring with two minutes to end the first half.
Second half resumed as Naija Ratels had the game to themselves controlling and getting all the possible passes.
Their momentary dominance paid off in the 53rd minutes when they equalized through Adugbe Olamide’s volley from edge of the box.
However, the Amazons midfield which was built around the dynamism of Amoo Bashiratu, Mathias Josephine and Edeh Loveth was too hot to handle for the youthful Ratels.
Amazons’ best player of the night, Tarnum Dooshima headed past Omilana to restore her side’s lead in the 65th minutes from a well measured free kick by Amoo.
Naija Ratels staged a late rally to send the game to shootout with Olamide and Bello combined well to set up a threat on the Amazons but their goalkeeper, Uzoma kept her cool to rescue the moments for the Lafia based club.
The victory has however see Nasarawa Amazons booked ticket to the next round of the competition where the NWFL big clubs will battle for the prestigious trophy.
