After several months of delay the 2022/2023 season of the Nigeria Premier Football League(NPFL) finally kicked off at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Akwa Ibom on Sunday, where the state’s darling team Akwa United were handed a shocking 2-0 defeat at the hands of newcomer Bendel Insurance.

The encounter saw the return of the NPFL on terrestrial television since the expiration of previous broadcasting rights with multichoice-owned Supersport in 2017; with the match between the two former league champions shown across the nation on NTA but not without hiccups.

It is the only game scheduled for the opening matchday of the abridged format league season, as the rest of the fixtures have been shifted till next week.

The group encounter started relatively quiet in the opening period of the first half but in the 39th minute, Imade Osehenkhoe scored the first goal of the season to put Insurance upfront before Ismael Seriki doubled for the Edo State-based team barely four minutes to give Insurance a 2-0 halftime advantage.

Akwa United came back into the second half and subsequently launched multiple attempts towards the Insurance’s goal including two close efforts by Moses Effiong and Ubong Friday, but were unable to find the target.

There was no goal in the second half but the two first half goals were enough to hand Bendel Insurance, who are returning to the top flight league for the first time since 2019, the maximum three points.