The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Navy on Wednesday qualified for the final match of the ongoing 12th Maritime Cup Competition.
To reach the final, the NPA Koko Marines defeated defending champions ENL Consortium 2-0.
The Koko Marines scored their first goal in the 11th minute of the first half through Mani Mustapha. The second goal was scored by top striker, Shardrack Charles in the 25th minute of the second half.
ENL Consortium put up a good fight but could not find the back of NPA’s net.
The second semi-final match between 2009 champions Nigerian Navy and 2019 runners-up Josepdam Port Services was decided by penalty kicks after it ended 1-1 at full time. Nigerian Navy triumphed 5-3 in the penalty kicks, thereby booking its ticket to the final match of the highly competitive tournament.
Both matches, played at the NPA Sports Ground, Surulere, Lagos, were watched by a large number of supporters from the contending teams.
The final match will be played at 3pm tomorrow at the Stable (Union Bank Sports Complex), Surulere, Lagos, while the closing ceremony to draw the curtains on the 2022 Maritime Cup Competition will follow immediately after the final match. The third place match between ENL and Josepdam will be played at the same venue at 1pm.
The CEO of Ships & Ports and Chief Host of the Maritime Cup, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, said the team that wins the trophy will smile home with N1million while the silver and bronze medal winners will get N500,000 and N300,000 respectively.
Dr. Akinola said prizes will also be presented to the Most Valuable Player, Best Goalkeeper and the Fair Play team.
He commended all the eight teams that participated in the tournament and the match officials for their hard work, maturity and dedication.
The teams that participated in the 2022 Maritime Cup include Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Josepdam Port Services (JPS) and Dynasty Ocean Shipping in Group A while Group B had ENL Consortium, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Navy and Higher Pacific International (HPI).
