Shooting Stars defeat Crown FC via penalties to win 2024 Oyo State FA Cup

Posted : 24 February 2025

Shooting Stars SC of Ibadan on Sunday secured a hard-fought victory over a resilient Nigeria National League (NNL) side, Crown FC of Ogbomosho, to emerge as champions of the 2025 Oyo State FA Cup.

It took a heroic performance from Mustapha Lawal as Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) clinched a 4-2 penalty shootout victory to regain the Oyo State title in the 2025 President Federation Cup competition.

Lawal saved two of the four penalty kicks he faced, helping his team defeat Crown Football Club of Ogbomoso after a goalless draw.

The goalkeeper has also been outstanding in the ongoing 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), particularly in penalty situations.

He was introduced in second-half added time by his team’s technical crew specifically to face the penalty shootout, replacing Chinedu Anozie, who had performed exceptionally well throughout the match.

Despite having minimal time to warm up, Lawal stopped Crown FC’s third and fourth penalty kicks after narrowly missing the first two.

With Mustapha Adams, Ikouwem Utim, and Ayodeji Bamidele successfully converting their penalties to give 3SC a 3-2 lead, Gbolagade Adelowo only needed to score to seal the victory.

His successful kick rendered the final round of penalties unnecessary.

Crown FC put up a strong fight in the match, played at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, with both teams displaying commendable resilience.

Goalkeeper Joshua Oladeji’s sharp reflexes enabled him to make several impressive saves from close-range shots by the Oluyole Warriors, who were playing their fourth game in five days.

3SC had previously played to a 2-2 draw with Lobi Stars on Wednesday in an NPFL Matchday 25 fixture, followed by 1-0 and 4-1 wins on Friday and Saturday against Oye Olohun FC and Ilaji FC, respectively, in the Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals.

Despite their fatigue, they persevered to hold off Crown FC, keeping both sets of fans on edge as the game ended goalless in regulation time.

Commenting on the match, 3SC’s Assistant Coach, Abimbola Lawal, acknowledged that most of their players were fatigued in the final.

“This is because they have been playing matches continuously over the last three or four days, which contributed to their average performance in the final.

“However, the coaching crew has already begun early preparations for the players who will compete in the national President Federation Cup competition.

“So, I can assure our fans that we will work hard to surpass our performance in the last edition of the national competition,” he said.

3SC had lost the final match of the 2024 competition on penalty kicks to Ilaji FC at the same venue.

Shooting Stars defeat Crown FC via penalties to win 2024 Oyo State FA Cup

ADD A COMMENT :

Hot Topics