Okoronkwo, Otu & Balogun: Nigeria trio help Saint Etienne gain promotion in France

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria trio of Esther Okoronkwo, Regina Otu, and Yewande Balogun are in celebration mood as Saint Etienne secured their promotion to French D1 Arkema for the 2023/2024 season on Sunday.

Despite bowing 2-1 at Montauban, Saint Etienne still sealed the crucial lone promotion ticket in the French division 2 with two games to spare thanks to Thonon-Evian forcing their closest rivals Marseille to a 2-2 draw.

The Vertes are returning to the French D1 Arkema just a season after they were relegated from the topflight.

Despite their first defeat of the season, recorded on Sunday in Montauban, the Stéphanoises still have an eight-point lead over Marseille with two games remaining to the end of the season and therefore are officially promoted.

After the setback of relegation to second-tier, the team swing into the transfer market, acquiring Otu from Belarusian side Minsk FK, goalkeeper Balogun from the United States of America, while retaining Okoronkwo services.

On the day, the visitors had a bright chance to go ahead in the 38th minute but Okoronkwo missed from the spot.

Havign escaped the onslaught from the spot, Marie-Jo Gibrardot gave the hosts the lead on the brink of half time before Audrey Duranty doubled the lead four minutes after the restart.

With the hosts destined to record a comfortable home win, Cindy Caputo pulled one back but could not halt the hosts chance of celebrating the maximum points.

Saint Etienne enjoyed an exciting campaign and the team will be honored during the final match of the season for Saint Etienne men’s team in French Ligue 2 against Valenciennes at Geoffroy-Guichard, on Friday, June 2.