Kaduna, Benue win Savannah Conference hockey

THE Savannah Conference of the third International Energy Insurance (IEI) Hockey National League ended over the weekend at the at the hockey pitch of the Murtala Mohammed Square, Kaduna, with Kaduna and Kano states' teams qualifying for the Premier League finals in Abuja.In the female category, Benue hockey teams came top and would be joined in the grand final by second placed Kano female teams. It was a tight game for all teams as predicted by tournament director, Salisu Jabbo, with three teams in the male category winning one of their two matches.Kano set the ball rolling by defeating Benue 1-0 in the opening game of the male event. The boys, however, lost their second match 2-1 to Kaduna team. Kaduna, on the other hand, lost 0-1 to Benue to leave all the teams with three points apiece.Kano and Kaduna, however, qualified over Benue with superior goals. But the Benue female team made the state proud by winning the female event ahead of Kaduna, which it defeated 1-0 in the opening game of the event to claim one of the tickets to Abuja final.Jabbo described the Savannah Conference, which flicked off on Thursday and ended on Saturday, as exemplary, stating: 'We had a great tournament and crowd came from Kano, Bauchi and Benue to cheer their players on. The standard was also high, especially in the male event where all the teams gave a good account of themselves.'The IEI Hockey League is coming back in a big way following last season's one off grand finale in Abuja with the second conference within two weeks. The Atlantic Conference took place in the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt, three weeks ago with the winners qualifying for the premiership coming up in Abuja in August.
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