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On a thrilling final day of the season, Okaka FC have emerged winners of the 2023 Lagos Divisional Football Association League in their debut seaso.
In the final match played at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Lagos, Okaka defeated HOM Football Academy 4-3 on penalties after full time ended 1-1.
In the closely fought final, Babatunde Damilola equalised for Okaka in the second half after they conceded in the first half, but victory was assured in the ensuing penalty shootout.
Earlier in the regular season and road to the league crown, coach Adedeji Da-Silva’s side had finished second in Group A, behind Pat FC on goals difference after both teams ended with 18 points, winning six and losing one of their seven matches to qualify for the Super Four playoffs alongside Pat FC.
The Lekki-based team went on to beat all to emerge tops, while HOM placed second to set the stage for the championship game between the two.
The Nationwide League Division One team went ahead to win their very first trophy in style in their very first time of asking in the LDFA.
Okaka will now represent LDFA at the forthcoming Eko Football League later this year.
Chairman of the club, Madueke Okaka, said, “The boys have done well and I commend them, I am joyous that we are indeed making progress and we want to stay on the right track.
“As a new team, we aim to keep moving forward as quickly as we can, we know that we will not achieve all our goals in a hurry, but we will do it step by step.”
Team manager, Bugana Tochukwu, added, “The team is just about a year old and we already won the state league, I am proud of our boys, they shocked other teams that participated in this league”
Okaka also played in the ongoing NLO season but failed to win their group but Bugana said they have much more to offer.
“Okaka FC have been on a meteoric rise up the football pyramid over this short period of existence. We will seek to organise more scouting events for our players to be scouted by foreign scouts.”
This is an exciting time for the club and they are hoping to make next season one of consolidation and steady evolution