Kalkulum United have qualified for the quarter-final of the 6th Adamu Yola Gombe South Unity Cup after a nail biting 5-4 shootout victory over Kaltungo Boys in one of the Round of 16 matches played on Saturday.
Kalkulum United are only making their second appearance in the competition but that never served as any hindrance as they matched the more experienced Kaltungo Boys in all departments of the game before progressing on penalties after the ended 1-1 at the end of the regulation time.
In a tense first 20 minutes of the encounter, Kalkulum United enterprising striker, Yahaya Abdullahi was brought down inside the Kaltungo Boys’ 18 yard box with barely 12 minutes into the tie and Osama Yunusa stepped forward to converted the ending spot kick to put his team ahead.
It took Kaltungo Boys just two minutes to level things up after Daniel A. Lucas latched onto a loose ball from a free kick to nod into the net to make the tie 1-1.
Both Kalkulum United and Kaltungo Boys missed great opportunities in quick succession in what was some of the best moments of the game.
Kaltungo Boys FC forward beat the on rushing Kaltungo goalkeeper but was unable to connect well with the ball as his lob went over the bar.
Immediately, Kalkulum United picked the ball and went desperately on attack forays which nearly paid off, but Kalkulum United forward failed to connect with the ball to nod into an empty post even when their opponents’ goalie committed a blunder.
Despite both teams making series of substitutions and increasing the tempo of the game in the second half, the normal time ended all squared at 1-1.
Daniel Lucas who equalized for Kaltungo Boys failed to convert his spot kick alongside Sani Mohammed while Kalkulum only missed one through Abraham Moh’d.
Kalkulum United thus joined Oska and Kulishin United who have booked their spots in the quarterfinals.
