Al Ittihad, Dibba return to pro league

Abu Dhabi: Al Ittihad of Kalba returned to the professional league after spending one season in the Division A, the amateur league, after trouncing Al Orooba 4-1 late on Friday to increase their tally to 43 points and secure the championship.

Dibba Al Fujairah also won promotion as the runners-up of the amateur division to play in professional competitions for the first time in the club's history.

Pressed for goals

Dibba drew with Massafi 1-1 to increase their tally to 37 points while nearest rivals Al Shaab were beaten 2-0 by Fujairah to remain third with 34 points.

The result of their remaining match will not change the outcome because in their head-to-head clash, Dibba defeated Al Shaab 2-1.

In Kalba, Saoud Faraj put Al Ittihad into the lead as early as the seventh minute and they pressed for more goals to secure the points but their haste deprived them of any more goals until the 28th minute when their midfielder Kanoo scored an own goal to equalise for Al Orooba who went down to the First Division B with only four points all of the season.

Beyond reach

Gregory scored his team's second goal from the penalty spot in the 37th minute and Adil Saqr added the third in the 61st before Gregory came again to add his team's fourth goal in the 69th minute to put the result beyond the reach of their opponents.

Al Ittihad returned back to the top flight after they were relegated at the end of the 2010-2011 season.