In making it to the elite division alongside zone three winners Kpando Heart of Lions, Nations FC came from behind to beat WAFA at the Kwame Kyei Sports Complex at Abrankese, with Abukari Gariba scoring a hat-trick. The victory enabled the Abrankese lads to open a 12-point gap over their nearest rivals, Skyy FC, with two games to end the season.

Coach Johnson Smith’s side sit comfortably on top of the league table with 69 points from 28 matches, meaning Daboase-based Skyy FC have no chance to overtake them even if they won their last three matches.

The home fans were in expectant mood for victory last Saturday but it was WAFA that silenced fans at the Kwame Kyei Complex when they took an early lead through Razak Simpson’s eighth minute goal.

Undaunted by the early goal, Nations FC took up the challenge and immediately turned the heat on their opponents and scored the equalising goal in the 10th minute through Gariba’s penalty kick, as the two sides battled it out but failed to score additional goals as the first half ended 1-1.

After recess, WAFA again caught the hosts pants down to take a 2-1 lead through Emmanuel Agyemang Duah in the 58th minute.

The home side continued to press for the equaliser until the 68th minute when Gariba scored his second goal of the match to bring both sides at par. And with the match tied at 2-2, Gariba produced a late winner when he converted a penalty kick six minutes into added time to complete his hat-trick and secure the 3-2 victory that ensured his club got a ticket to the top flight league.

It has been a turnaround season for Nations FC which was formerly known as Bekwa Youth FC until it was acquired by Kwame Kyei, the board chairman of Asante Kotoko, who invested heavily in developing the Kwame Kyei Complex as their home grounds.

Although Bekwai Youth had played in the second tier league for the last few years, the acquisition of the club and their rebranding to Nations FC under the leadership of their CEO, Divine Kyei Boadu, provided a new focus for this season’s Division One League campaign which they won in style.

The third ticket to the premier league will be decided via a playoff between the winners of the Zone One A and Zone One B.

Techiman Eleven Wonders and Bofoakwa Tano will fight for a place in next season’s betPawa Premier League on Tuesday, May 30 at the Accra Sports stadium.

Eleven Wonders won the race in Zone One A as Bofoakwa Tano picked the slot in Zone One B to book their place for the championship playoff.

Last Sunday, Bofoakwa Tano suffered a 1-2 loss to Wamanafo Mighty Royals with Michael Yeboah scoring a last gasp goal to hand Bofoakwa their fifth loss of the campaign.

Techiman Eleven Wonders also suffered a surprise 1-2 loss to struggling Kumbung Binbiem who sit bottom of the league log.