Ifeanyi Egwim fired a hat-trick to inspire ten-man Dolphins to a 3-1 victory over Nasarawa United in a Nigeria Professional Football League match on Saturday.

The Pride of Rivers showed determination despite playing more than 77 minutes of the game with a man down as goalkeeper Rotimi Sunday was sent-off for handling the ball outside the box.

Despite the win, Stanley Eguma’s side are still in the relegation zone (17th) in the 20-team table.

Zikiye Jonathan and Omoh Johnson missed early chances to put Dolphins ahead.

In the 13th minute, Dolphins were reduced to ten men when iconic goalkeeper Rotimi was sent-off for handling the ball outside the area as the Solid Miners threatened to score the first goal.

Nasarawa United were beneficiaries of the numerical advantage for some minutes.

It was no surprise that they took the lead from the penalty spot four minutes before the half-hour mark through usual suspect Esosa Igbinoba.

But Dolphins showed why they needed the three points and certainly did not appear to be suffering for Rotimi’s absence.

Egwim reacted sharply to a pass from Johnson before netting the equalizer for the Pride of Rivers.

Igbinoba almost made it 2-1 soon after with a shot that was curled just outside the box.

Dolphins were soon in front, with Egwim the scorer again. The fair skinned forward reacted quickest to poke home from a rebound.

Another away defeat looked firmly on the cards for the visitors when Egwim completed his hat-trick two minutes to the hour mark. There were decent attempts at either end at the home stretch.

Ishaya Anyu had an acrobatic effort palmed away by substitute keeper Godwin Anyalogu while a brilliant header from the hardworking Ugochukwu Leonard struck the cross bar.