East Riffa defeat Al Ittifaq

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com     

East Riffa improved their chances of staying in the Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League for next season after defeating Al Ittifaq 2-0 last night in their second match of the relegation play-offs. Meanwhile, Al Hala salvaged a late 1-1 draw against A’ali in yesterday’s other play-off fixture.

The four squads are facing one another in league format, with the top two going to the top flight and the bottom pair settling for participation in the Kingdom’s second division.

East Riffa and Hala are the two sides hoping to stay in the premier league, while A’ali and Ittifaq are hoping for promotion.

The relegation playoffs continue with one final matchday on Tuesday next week.

Ittifaq and Hala face off in their last game, while East Riffa and A’ali lock horns. Both matches are scheduled for simultaneous 7pm kick-offs on Tuesday night.

In East Riffa’s victory, Obus Prince Aggreh and Flavio Silva Cheveresan were on target on either side of half-time to help their team claim the crucial three points.

Aggreh opened their account in the 35th minute after taking advantage of some poor Ittifaq defending.

Aggreh was able to operate freely on the edge of the penalty area and evade up to three opposing defenders to make his way to the centre of the box and score with a low, left-footed effort.

Cheveresan then doubled East Riffa’s advantage in the 83rd minute, firing in a well-placed effort into the top-right corner of the net.

With the result, East Riffa improved to four points in the relegation play-off table heading into their final fixture.

Ittifaq suffered their first loss and to go with one win and are on three points in second place.

In last night’s other match, A’ali opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Mauricio Osmar Rodrigues Britto but Hala’s Ali Adnan came up with a 79th minute equaliser to claim a share of the points.

A’ali claimed their first points of the play-offs while Hala took their second, as they went to the bottom two places on the standings and are in danger of relegation heading into their concluding ties.

For next season, second division champions Al Najma and runners-up Busaiteen have already secured their place in the Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

Bahrain Club and Budaiya were sent down to the lower tier as the bottom two clubs from this year.