Etisalat U-15 regional play-offs begin in Ibadan

Schools in the South West region have entered the race for tickets to the national finals of the season three of the Etisalat U-15 School Cup football competition, which kicked off at the Ibadan Centre, which matches hold at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba and Wesley College Playing Ground, Elekuro.

Seven teams are featuring in the regional qualifiers. They include host Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Lagos, Ogun and Osun states.

The eight-team, Delta, is yet to report to the teams’ camp.

In the opening matches for Group A played at the Wesley College, Lagos overcame their Ogun State counterparts with a 2-1 victory, while host, Oyo, piped Osun by a lone goal.

In a Group B match played inside main bowl of the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Edo was awarded maximum points and goals after walking over the Delta team, which was yet to report to Camp.

In the second group B match, Ondo was drubbed 5-2 by Ekiti in a match of unequal strength after the former was allowed to field only seven players following the disqualification of nine members of the 16-player team over breach of participation rules and regulations governing the championship.

Twenty-Four states’ school teams will feature in the other regional qualifying matches to be hosted consecutively at the Ilorin Township Stadium, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu and Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna between October 18 and November 4, 2016.