Mamobi beats Darkuman to wins 2023 Sheikh Sharubutu Ramadan Cup

Mamobi traveled from the brink of rejection to glorious redemption after beating Darkuman in a 5-4 shootout in the Grand Finale to clinch the 2023 Sheikh Sharubutu Ramadan trophy in a five-year journey.

After an exciting 0-0 draw in regulation time on the Astro Turf of New Fadama, it was the men from Ayawaso North who neatly converted all five kicks to win their second silverware in the history of the annual tournament.

Their goalkeeper became the spot-kick hero after Darkuman’s fourth shockingly missed the post by a few inches.

And it was a deserved victory after they dominated and created more of the best scoring opportunities in the game.

They gave off a performance of quality, making all the runs and taking all the opportunities against all five competitors they came up against.

Sunday’s game will go down in history as one of the most keenly contested finals of the competition.

Mamobi were saved by the bell when an 11th-hour plea gave them the chance to participate after almost being disqualified for failing to appear for their opening match against Nswam.

Mamobi and Nsawam both failed to appear on the field, but it was the former who presented a plea for forgiveness, which was upheld.

They were given the chance to play the best losing team, Salaga, in a play-off, which they won 1-0.

They went on to beat New Town and Oda Zongo by the same margin at the 1/16 and quarterfinal stages, respectively.

And their semi-final clash with Madina saw them go into a dramatic marathon shootout, which they would go on to win 8-7 after a 1-1 scoreline in regulation time.

However, it was always going to be tougher to beat a compact Darkuman side that played with match physique and incredible speed.

They needed to play above themselves to deliver the trophy to their community, and that was settled in a shootout that saw marvelous kicks, especially from Mamobi’s talisman, Shamsu Diego, who eventually won the player of the tournament.