Vipers, Ghana Police shine as championship enters business end

Plateau Vipers, D. Defenders, COAS Shooters, Kada Queens, and Ghana Police all came out tops in the men and women’s categories at yesterday’s proceedings of the on-going Prudent Energy Handball Premier League at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park, Yaba.

The Vipers narrowly defeated Borno Spiders 29-26 in a tough duel that saw the two teams smoking, trying to gain the edge over each other. The Spiders gave a good account of themselves but failed to score enough goals to secure the victory they so desired in the close clash.

In another game, Prison Key boys lost 22 to 44 to D. Defenders in a one-sided match where the dominant Lagos-based team was unforgiving in approach against their opponent.

The fixture between COAS Shooters and Sokoto Rima ended in 35-32 points against the Rima boys, who were also narrowly beaten in one of the men’s games played yesterday.

In the women’s cadre, Kada Queens humbled the Desert Queens 22 to 18 in an even match up that witnessed exciting actions from both teams.

Edo Dynamos then inflicted a 29 to 19 heavy defeat on Owena Queens in another duel despite not fielding their full strength against the Akure-based team. The Edo girls are now unbeaten since the start of the second and last phase of this year’s Premier League, which ends on Thursday.

The much-anticipated clash between the visiting team, the Ghana Police against the veterans, the Imo Grasshoppers, ended in 36-25 defeat of the Imo based team. Though the scoreline will not in any way affect one of the most successful handball teams from the East.

The Ghanaian club was co-opted into this year’s Premier League in order to add International flavour to the competition.