It was a keenly contested FA Cup tie between NPFL rivals Akwa United and Dakkada as the battle for places in the Federation Cup continued at the state levels.
Akwa United survived a late scare and were pushed all the way to a penalty shootout before they overcame neighbours Dakkada FC to take a step closer to glory.
The former NPFL champions have their goalkeeper Jean Efala to thank after they safely secured a place in the final of the 2023 Akwa Ibom FA Cup following their win over Dakkada FC in the semifinals.
Efala made a late save as United defeated their city rivals 5-4 on penalties to reach the semifinals after the game ended 0-0 in regulation time.
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The match in brief
Akwa United vs Dakkada was played at the training pitch of the beautiful Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo on Tuesday evening.
Both teams started brightly but it was United who dominated the game expectedly and created the best chances which started to come from the second quarter of the game.
Dakkada goalkeeper, Loveday, was called to action in the 18th minute and the pair of safe hands duly obliged with two quick saves to deny Cyril Olisema and Uche Collins.
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The Promise Keepers continued to ask questions of Dakkada and came close again to breaking the deadlock in the 25th and 29th minutes.
However, United were unable to make their dominance count as Dakkada held on to ensure there was nothing to separate them at the break.
Second 45
It was more of the same in the second half until late on when Akwa United's Jean Efala was finally called into action with Dakkada's best chance a minute from time.
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Efala kept his cool to parry the ball to a corner kick which resulted to naught as the game went into penalty shootout to determine the winner.
In the end, Akwa United converted all their spot kicks while Dakkada missed one of theirs to crash out of the competition as United advanced. Dakkada will switch attention to the NPFL where things are not going as planned too.
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