It was a busy day for Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin as they continue their pre-season tour of Ilorin with two games and double victories in one day.
The newly promoted Benin Arsenals were emphatic against Okaa Sports Club in their first engagement with a 3-0 win over the amateur side at the University of Ilorin Sports Complex.
In their usual approach, Bendel Insurance dominated from the blast of the whistle, putting their opponents to the test of strength and pace with a purposeful attacking display.
The experience and intelligence of Austin Ogunye counted when he swiftly controlled the ball that fell to his path in the box after Adodo had missed the chance, and confidently slotted it into the net to put Insurance in front,41 minutes into the game.
The combination of Stephen Adodo, Austin Ogunye and Micha Ojodumo was too much for the none League side who were yet to recover from the first goal before Ogunye picked the ball from Adodo and calmly controlled it past his marker and released the shot to get a brace for Insurance within two minutes.
Coach Monday Odigie made multiple changes to allow a good number of his players to have a taste of the game with the introduction of Dede Muogarah, Ebenezer Odeyemi and Taiwo Oripelaye in the second half which increased the pressure on their opponents and got rewarded for it moments later as Dede Muoghara’s free-kick on the edge of the box was well curled into the net to make it 3-0 for the Benin Arsenal.
In the second match of the day, Insurance recorded a 2-1 victory against the University of Ilorin football team. In the game, coach Odigie started with an entirely different team from those that prosecuted the first match, giving rest to the set of players who beat Okaa Sports Club 3-0 in the morning.
The players have had enough rest since their game against Kwara United and moved with strength and precision to force the Unilorin team to a defensive approach for the better part of the first half.
In the 15th minute of the game, Imade Osehenkhoe capitalized on a sloppy defender to strike a stunning one from 20-yards to put Insurance in front.
The Benin Arsenal kept the game at a high tempo making it difficult for the stubborn University opponents to have breathing space and the high pressing yielded positive result when Ebuka Akubundu, Zaidu Ayuba, and Imade combined well to set up Sarki Ismael who made 2-0 in the 36th minutes with fine finishing.
Just four minutes into the second half, Coach Monday made multiple substitutions when he pulled out Ebuka Akobondu, Julius Emiloju, Amas Obasogie, Sarki Ismael and Maurice Prince for Efe Enabulele, Kolawole Oladipupo, Dede Muogarah, Divine Nwachukwu and Ebenezer Odeyemi.
After a while, he again pulled out strong Zaidu Ayuba and Deputy Echeta for Osas Okoro and Micah Ojodumo to further add bite to the attacks and the two didn’t disappoint with beautiful runs over the opposition’s defence.
Unilorin however got their chance in a few minutes of possession and they didn’t disappoint as they pulled up pressure on Insurance to get a goal from a set piece.
Bendel Insurance held on to the lead and won the game to make it three wins from three matches in their Ilorin preseason tour.
Insurance FC has Kwara Academy Team as the next host at the Kwara Academy pitch on Friday evening.