In their first competitive match after a one-year break, the renowned New Radiant Sports Club clinched a 3-0 victory over Grande Sports Club.
Originally set for December 31st of the previous year, the match was delayed due to heavy rain. New Radiant’s last official game before this was in the first division of 2022, where they faced a semi-final defeat on August 14 in a penalty shoot-out.
New Radiant’s recent match on Saturday against Teenage was won by default, as Teenage forfeited by not showing up.
Da Grande, demoted in the 2022 National Premiere League, had already lost their first three games in this year’s 2nd Division group stage, eliminating their progression chances. Their final group match is against Teenage.
Guided by Coach Ahmed Nimaadh (Nimaa), New Radiant led the first half thanks to Abu Sanoon’s 23rd-minute goal. Kofu Ovucu extended the lead in the second half’s opening minute, and Ahmed Ayaaz (Ayaa) sealed the victory with a goal three minutes before the end.
This win places New Radiant and Tent Sport Club at six points each in Group B’s first two matches. While BG Sports Club holds a similar score with two wins and a loss, both Grande and Teenage are yet to earn points.
BG, having defeated Grande 5-1 last Thursday, secured their six points with Muzdhaan Hassan’s hat-trick and goals from Mohamed Safeer and Mohamed Nishan. Grande’s consolation goal came 15 minutes from full-time through Ismail Nazeeh.
In another match, PK triumphed over Lorenzo Sports Club with a 1-0 score in Group C’s game on Thursday. The sole goal, by Ahmed Nizam, came from a second-half free-kick. This marked PK’s first win in three matches, while Lorenzo also has three points from three games. In Group C, Victory Sports Club and Lagoons Sport Club have won both their matches, while Bisburu Sports suffered defeats in their two games.