Kwara United on Sunday laboured hard before getting a 2-1 win over visiting Remo Stars in Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) match-day 20 clash played at the Kwara state stadium, Ilorin.

Having lost 3-0 in Ikenne in the match-day 19 battle, Kwara United players were determined to seek redemption at the Kwara state stadium against Remo Stars in the return fixture.

However, they were made to fight hard in front of their faithfuls before beating the visitors from Ikenne.

Hadi Haruna sent the home fans into total silence when he scored for Remo Stars in the 33rd minute, but Stephen Jude restored parity for Kwara United 10 minutes later as the first half ended 1-1.

Substitute Samad Kadiri netted the winner for Kwara United in the 75th minute via a stunning header thanks to Kabiru Balogun who gave the brilliant assist as Kwara United won 2-1.

Abdullahi Biffo after the encounter praised the fighting spirit of his players as he also promised that his team will continue to improve this season in the NPFL.

Gbenga Ogunbote of Remo Stars expressed unhappiness for the defeat claiming his wards lost concentration, but promised that correction will be made before their next home game.

As things stand presently, Kwara United are occupying 4th position on the NPFL table with 34 points and will be traveling to Uyo where they will tackle Dakkada on Wednesday in NPFL match-day 21 duel.

NPFL giants Kwara United on Sunday afternoon recorded their first ever home win over Plateau United in NPFL game beating the Jos based side 2-0.

Abdul Makaiba and his wards stormed Ilorin with the hope that history would favour them, but they suffered a defeat this time around against no nonsense Kwara United players.

Having lost their last game narrowly away at Nasarawa United in match-day 20 game, Biffo and his soldiers knew that only a win against Plateau United will save them from pressure and lashes as they did themselves lots of good.

The visitors were able to prevent Kwara United from scoring in the first half in a tie that the Harmony Boys should have scored at least two goals.

However, Abdullahi Biffo made two brilliant subs on resumption for the second half with Gata and Chisom making ways for Joshua Agboola and Wale Farayola.

The substitutions were fantastic for Kwara United as it took the Harmony Boys just 4 minutes to score the opener through Jide Fatokun.

And after they conceded the first goal, Plateau United players changed their style of play to more attacking one, but they were unable to cause any trouble for goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba.

Joshua Agboola delivered a superb pass in the 79th minute for Stephen Jude to score the second and winning goal for Kwara United.

After the final whistle, Kwara United gaffer Biffo expressed satisfaction with the performance of his wards claiming that what was needed against Plateau was gotten.

“I told them before the match that Plateau United are strong opponents and I am happy that we were able to get the three points which is important for us.

“We are still determined and focused to soar this season in the NPFL and we will continue to approach every game with full energy,” Biffo explained.

Kwara United have now gotten six points against Plateau United this season as it will be recalled that the Harmony Boys also won in Jos in the first round of the season.

Meanwhile, Kwara United are still occupying third position on the NPFL table with 39 points and they are 1 point behind second placed Kano Pillars and leaders Akwa United.

Despite retaining the top spot on the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) table after a one-all draw with Wikki Tourists, Coach Abdullahi Biffo of Kwara United FC believes his team is still an underdog in the title race this season.

Speaking to newsmen after Kwara United FC forced Wikki Tourists to a draw in the crucial encounter decided at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium this evening, Coach Biffo commended his boys for sharing the spoils with the Giant Elephants.

He said that his team will continue to fight until the last whistle of the season, irrespective of the toughness of the challenges in the system.

The homers, who enjoyed a larger percentage of possession throughout the encounter, scored their goal in the 38th minutes through Chinedu Udeagha, who converted from the charity spot, after their attacker was fouled in the box.

Wikki Tourists underscored their determination to win the game by creating several chances that kept goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba absolutely busy throughout the game.

Kwara United had a clear chance of taking the lead minutes before conceeding the goal, when rampaging Michael Ohanu found an unmarked Stephen Jude in the box, but Wkki Tourists had goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to thank for saving his goal bound shot.

He also stopped Jude’s low header on the goal line minutes later, to ensure Wikki Tourists ran away with the goal advantage at interval.

Kwara United introduced Olawale Farayola and Kalu Nweke, both of whom replaced Wasiu Alalade and Kamaldeen Sikiru respectively, in the 58th minute, and the changes raised the stakes for Kwara United, as they stepped up their search for an equalizer.

Coach Abdullahi Biffo completed his changes in the 72nd minute, bringing in the trio of Alao Danbani, who replaced Ohanu, Murtala Lawal, who replaced Mohammed Aliyu, and Jibola Adeleke, who replaced Stephen Jude, and also made his introduction count, scoring the equalizer in his first touch, in the 83rd minute.

The Club’s Secretary, Mallam Hamidu Olowo, who led the team to Bauchi commended the players and the technical crew members, for rising up to the challenges, especially, when it mattered most.

Mallam Olowo, who motivated the players for their efforts, challenged them not to relent, as there are more matches ahead in the season.

Kwara United FC will host Heartland FC of Owerri in their next fixture next Sunday in Ilorin.

Kwara United will be facing visiting Enyimba on Wednesday in an NPFL rescheduled match day 2 encounter which is expected to be a tough duel.

These two teams will go into this battle with their morales boosted having done well in their last two games respectively.

Biffo and his wards picked deserved point in Kaduna against Jigawa Golden Stars, while Enyimba were at their best beating Kano Pillars 2-1 in Aba.

In history, Kwara United and Enyimba have met 17 times in competitive games with the People’s Elephant having an edge after getting nine wins against the Harmony Boys.

Kwara United have so far beaten Enyimba five times in top flight encounters with the other remaining three games ending in draw.

Last season, Enyimba did not visit Ilorin due to the outbreak of deadly COVID-19, but their last visit to the ancient city in January 2019 ended in a 3-2 defeat for the Aba based team.

Abdullahi Biffo who is the handler of Kwara United confirmed his wards readiness for the clash against Enyimba claiming the Aba club will fall in Ilorin.

“The game against Enyimba is an important one for us and we are ready for it as I enjoin all Kwarans to continue praying for us and we will overcome,” Biffo told Kwara United media team.

Biffo also explained that Kabiru Balogun will be missing the match against Enyimba due to injury, while Joshua Agboola is having malaria.

The duo of Afeez Nosiru and Ejeh will also not be available as they are still on suspension after being red carded against Rivers United.

Meanwhile, Enyimba are currently occupying fifth position on the NPFL table while Kwara United occupy 15th and the Harmony Boys will be having another home game this coming Sunday against Ifeanyi Ubah FC.

Wins for Kwara United against Enyimba and Ifeanyi Ubah will take Biffo and his charges back to the top 4 on the standings.

Biffo who is now the Technical Adviser of Kwara United, handled the Minna outfit in the same capacity in 2016, and helped them win promotion back to the NPFL after many years.

Biffo, who spoke as a Guest of the FCT Football Update WhatsApp platform, said he has reported the incident to relevant football authorities, and now his legal team has taken it up formally and are bent on collecting the money.

“At every point, the management of Niger Tornadoes will always tell me they will pay, but it’s exactly four years, they are making no efforts to offset the debt. So, my legal team has written to the government of the state, the State House of Assembly Committee for Sports among others”.

The former Abia Warriors and Katsina United gaffer said he signed a contract with Niger Tornadoes on 1 January 2016, and was suspended from the team on 1 June 2016 after he promoted the team the Premiership after years of absence.

“My monthly salary was N1 million, which they paid for only one month, and reduced it to N500,000 in February citing drop in budgetary allocation to that, and promised to pay the difference which was not paid until I was relieved of the job in June, immediately the team gained promotion and won the Super 4”. He gave the breakdown to include:

1. Balance of 3 months salary – N1,500,000
2. Salary of June and July – N2,000,000
3. Match bonuses for 7 home win – N280,000
4. Match Bonuses for 2 away wins – N80,000
5. Match bonus for 1 away win – N40,000
6. Match for 6 away draws – N240,000

Biffo who spoke at the Personality Interview segment of FCT Football Update, said the coaches are not given the due respect at all. “Many clubs sign coaches, but they don’t respect the terms of the contract. A single mistake, they will immediately relief the Coach of his job. They will not give him the courtesy of interacting with them to discuss the terms of the contract and way out. You can even be in training and hear over the radio that you have been sacked”.

Continuing, the former Abia Warriors gaffer said this gives the Coaches problem and affects their health “when you know that you are working on uncertainty, you hardly sleep well, and when you don’t sleep well, your health will be affected. You can sleep in a club today, and wake up in another tomorrow. There is a lot of uncertainty. And the administrators don’t care how you will survive when they kick you out without compensation. The administrators should look at that closely, and always give us all the due respect”.

Biffo however asserted that for the coaches to earn the deserve respect, they must be knowledgeable enough to inculcate such to their players, they must work in synergy with the administrators, and ensure that they provide them with all the needed resources to carry out their programs “when all these are provided, the coaches will ensure that they excel” he concluded.

Biffo who was the Guest of the virtual interview of FCT Football Update said football administration in the country is very difficult, considering the fact that the tenure of the administrators are not specified, making continuity very impossible.

Quoting his words, the former Katsina United gaffer said “if we take a look at the NPFL clubs, many of them are government sponsored clubs. The administrative positions in clubs are politicized. Most of the Chairmen are either politicians or friends of the politicians. When they give them the job, there are many more people who will be challenging their appointments, and waiting for them to fail so that they can take over.

“These administrators would not have time to put any developmental program on ground, they would circumvent every available rules to make sure they win, in order to keep their jobs. The administrators don’t have time at all. But, if the club administrators are elected for a specific time limit and tenure, those who have the interest of handling the positions would have to wait until such a time when new elections to the positions would be held, and they will have no option than to support the club fully, knowing fully well that if the club fails, they will not have any thing to administer. This will also give the administrators the opportunity to carry their programs to term”. He said that these would be the best way to properly position the clubs to compete favourably with clubs in other countries.

Biffo commended the LMC for putting certain structures on ground towards moving the league forward. “We are moving forward. You can agree with me that in the past, it was a taboo for a team to win in an away match. But, in the past three seasons, no team is secured anywhere. If you don’t play well at home, you lose, and if you play well at away, you win. This is a great improvement, and we must support the LMC and NFF to continue the good job” he concluded.