A 29th minute acrobatic goal by Oche Josiah was all Nasarawa United needed in their Semi-final clash against hard-fighting SETRACO FC of Abuja on Friday afternoon to book a final place at the 2022/23 Unity Pre-Season Tournament holding in Abuja, Nigeria's Capital City.
The Solid Miners will be playing in their second consecutive final since the competition started last year, after coming up as runners-up in the 2021/22 edition against Plateau United.
To get to this stage, United dismantled Mailantarki FC 2-0 in their opening group game; defeated Like Minds FC 2-1 in their last group match before pipping City FC 1-0 in the Quarter-finals tie.
The Lafia-based Club will slug it out with another Abuja-based Nigeria National League side and border neighbours, EFCC FC, in the final slated for Saturday, 29th October, 2022, at the popular Area 3 Football Field, Abuja, by 3pm, after the Club shocked Nigeria Professional Football League giants, Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi 4-3 on penalty shootout after regulation time ended in a goalless stalemate in the other Semi-final clash encounter decided on Friday evening.
Nasarawa United are playing their third Pre-Season Tournament finals in their history, the first being at the 2019/20 Ahlan Pre-Season Tournament in Kano where they emerged champions after beating El-Kanemi Warriors 1-0 on 16th October, 2019.
The Club ended the 2021/22 Unity Pre-Season Tournament as runners-up, narrowly losing to North-Central neighbours and fellow NPFL counterparts, Plateau United 0-1, on November 7th, 2021.
With experienced Coach Bala Nikyu still in charge of the Solid Miners, the aim will be to win the 2022/23 edition of the Pre-Season Tournament as a reward for his sides' resilience and persistence.
It will also be his second Pre-Season Tournament trophy in four years as a gaffer with the Governor A.A. Sule Boys.
The Pre-season is a preparatory ground to lay solid fitness foundations for the team's success in a long football league season which is expected to commence soon.