Rivers United progressed to the group stage of the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw with hosts Al Nasr in Libya.
On the same day, Plateau United failed to consolidate on their heavy first leg triumph as they were bounced out of the club championship following a 3-0 defeat in their second leg encounter in the same country.
Both Rivers United and Plateau United had dropped out of the CAF Champions League competition for a second chance to earn continental honour.
Crusing from a 5-0 first leg triumph a week earlier in Port Harcourt, Rivers United held on tightly to end the first half one goal down before pulling one back in the second half to clinch a 6-1 aggregate win.
The breakthrough came for the home side in the 39th minute when Abdulsalam Al Fitouri's strike broke the deadlock before the half time break.
Rivers United, however, foughtback to level matters 12 minutes into the second half thanks to an individual brilliance from striker Nwangwa Nyima to make qualification a mountain to climb for their hosts.
Still in Libya, Plateau United were bounced out of the competition's group stage playoff after bowing 3-0 to AS Al Akhdar in the second leg fixture.
After hoping out for 62 minutes, the Jos based club conceded three second-half goals to crash from the competition on the away goal rule after a 4-4 aggregate scoreline.
Holding a 4-1 first leg win in Abuja a week ago, the Nigerian vice champions could only hold off hosts AS Al Akhdar till the 62nd minute when they conceded the first goal and the second and third in the closing stage.
Earlier, Nigeria's original representatives Kwara United of Ilorin and Remo Stars of Ikenne had been eliminated from the competition, with Kwara bowing out in the second preliminary round and Remo in the first.
As it stands, the West African nation will only have one of its four clubs left in the two club competitions following the early exit of the three clubs from the ongoing club championships for the 2022-23 season.
