Kaduna wins Zone D Copa Coca Cola final

By JACOB AJOM
The Kaduna state team at the weekend defeated their Kano state counterparts 1-0 to win the Zone D finals of the 2011 Copa Coca Cola held at the Kaduna Township stadium.

The Kaduna state team handled by Coach Abdulsalam Jere survived an early scare in the very first minute of the game when the Kano state forwards led by Sunday Ajala harassed their defence line but ended up with a shot that hit the side of the net.

The Kaduna lads recovered almost immediately with scintillating moves that saw their teeming supporters cheering endlessly. Abdullahi Alfa, spotting jersey number 14 for Kaduna doubled as the tormentor-in-chief  and organiser.

His ball sense as fighting spirit soon manifested when he displaced two Kano defenders and placed a through pass to onrushing Mohammed Yekini, spotting jersey number 8 who finished the move with a sublime touch that went into Kano’s net in the 5th minute of play.

The first half ended 1-0 in favour of the Kaduna team.

On resumption of hostilities in the second half, Kano made several efforts to equalise but the well organised defence line of Kaduna kept them at bay to the end of the encounter.

Former Super Eagles player, Garba Lawal who would be leading the Zone D team to Lagos for the final next month said he was satisfied with the standard of play exhibited by the teams and said those he would select will give a good account of themselves.

“Players who excelled in this zone will be picked no matter the team they belong. Only the best will represent the zone and I believe we will have a good team,” Lawal said.

According to the organisers, a team to represent Nigeria will be selected after the national final in Lagos for the World Copa Coca Cola tournament billed for Stamford Bridge, London later this year.