Saturday’s opening match got off to an electrifying start, with Bankers Football Club thrashing Edo MLS 5-1.
Edo MLS struck first in the 4th minute, courtesy of Omoghene George, but the celebration was cut short ten minutes later. Bankers got a well-deserved equalizer through Onah Paul in the 14th minute.
The game shifted in favour of Bankers FC as Ohaegbu Izu scored a brace in the 16th and 40th minute, giving his team a comfortable 3-1 lead at halftime.
During the second half, Edo MLS struggled to come back as Ifijen Ohioremuan sealed the win for Bankers FC with a brace in the 69th and 90th minute, to round off the game with an emphatic 5-1 victory.
The match between the University of Benin Football Club and Benin Recreation Club started with both sides adopting a conservative style. However, the game took a dramatic turn when a Benin Recreation Club player made a reckless tackle, kicking a Uniben FC player in the face. The crowd erupted with noise protest calling for the referee to issue a red card to the player, while paramedics rushed into the field to attend to the injured player.
After a tense moment, the referee handed the BRC player a yellow card. Despite the drama, the first half ended goalless.
In the later part of the game, the Benin Recreation Club had enough chances to put them up but squandered them; they, however, broke the deadlock in the 70th minute when Okeh Wisdom slotted a rebound into the net.
The goalkeeper initially blocked the ball, but he was quick to get a rebound. More opportunities found the BRC players, but the Uniben FC goalkeeper was alert and made fine saves. The match ended with the Benin Recreation Club claiming a 1-0 victory. Coach Jimmy of BRC spoke on the chances his team missed “I was not actually comfortable but at this age, I could only keep encouraging them but we were able to put pressure and we got the goals but it also shows that our team is not a good scoring side which we will work on before our next game.
After a disappointing loss to Uniben FC in their opening game, the Edo Sports Writers Association Club were determined to make a comeback against Dominion Football Club. Edo Swan created a couple of chances but couldn’t capitalize on them, no thanks to also a glaring penalty denied them by the centre referee for reasons best known to him. Just before halftime, the defence line of Edo Swan had a rock-solid performance to thwart multiple goal attempts from Dominion FC.
The second half began with Dominion FC pushing hard for a goal, but the SWAN keeper, Precious Okueze, made a crucial save to keep them in the game.
Dominion FC’s efforts finally paid off when Owas found the back of the net — no thanks to another wrong judgement by the referee, awarding a free kick in place of throwing, and that changed the game’s momentum as Moses soon added another goal, which was a fine pass he just tapped into the left side of the open net with ease.
A few minutes later, the third goal was added, which was a simple tap-in through the left-hand side. The game ended 3-0 in favour of Dominion FC.
In a post-match interview, the captain of the Edo SWAN side, Salihu Ibrahim, spoke on his side’s loss: “Going by the scoreline, Dominion was the better side, but I thought we played better and didn’t deserve to lose but in football, you judge by the scoreline so congratulations to them”.
Speaking concerning the officiating he said “Well I don’t want to complain about officiating but I don’t think it was the very best, even the first goal which I thought demoralised the team it was supposed to be a throw but a free kick was given but we will just accept the result as it is.
The last game between the University Of Benin Teaching Hospital Football Club and First Bank Football Club got off to a blistering start with Omoarebo Mathew scoring in the 13th minute of the game courtesy of an error by the goalkeeper, which allowed for an easy tap-in. Drama ensued when the coach of First Bank FC was given a red card for protesting too much. Despite this, the team rallied together and got an equalizer courtesy of Adekola Ismala in the 40th minute as the first half ended 1-1.
The intensity increased in the second half, with UBTH FC missing out on a golden opportunity to take the lead again. Meanwhile, the First Bank FC found their rhythm by giving compact and connecting passes but, in the end, losing brilliant chances to seal a victory in the game.