Kunle Adelabu & Oluwaseun Ajayi
Players of Agbele Football Club of Igbogbo put up an heroic performance as they came back from a goal down to snatched a well deserved victory in the grueling final match of the 2017 Igbogbo Day Football Competition tagged, ‘Adeboruwa Cup’ in a spectacular fashion.
The match, which was played at the Igbogbo Township Stadium on Saturday, November 25, 2017, ended 3-1 in favour of Agbele FC which dominated the match.
The pulsating match had the attendance of the Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, His Royal Majesty, Oba (Barr.) Semiudeen Orimadegun Kasali and Chairman of Igbogbo/Bayeku Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Comrade Sesan Mayokun Daini.
Oba Kasali, while presenting the trophy to the champions, enjoined all the participating teams to see themselves as winners and pleaded with the youths of the community to always serve as good ambassadors of Igbogbo anywhere they are.
“I commend all you for the spirit of sportsmanship displayed throughout the tournament. You are all winners. I have to call the captain of Agunfoye FC (the runners – up) to join me in presenting this trophy to the winners to show friendliness and promote peace. Both teams are winners , said Oba Kasali.
“These are part of the community efforts geared towards engage our youths and make them productive and engaging. I appeal to you all to be good ambassadors wherever you are. I also want to enjoin you to keep peace and maintain cooperation among yourselves”, Oba Kasali appealed.
In the first half of the epic encounter which started behind schedule, both teams showed class as they controlled the midfield and exhibited discipline in the defense. The first 45minutes ended goalless to the disappointment of both supporters who were expecting their respective team to score.
The two teams, however, came into the second half displaying the zeal to break the deadlock but that did not happen until the 76th minute when Ismail (wearing jersey no 10 for Agunfoye FC) latched on to a wrong pass by Agbele defender and put the ball to the far left of the goal post beyond the reach of the Agbele FC goalkeeper, Kingsley Peter, to give his team the lead.
The tempo of the match got heated up as Agbele FC , despite trailing by a goal, continued rampaging and pressing deeper into their opponents’ half in a frantic search for an equalizer.
Their efforts paid off in the 78th minute when Damola Oluwa, a player of Apoel FC of Israel, headed home a free-kick from the right side of the field to make the scoreline even.
Fired up with the equaliser, the Agbele team piled more pressure on the defence of Agunfoye FC and this resulted in a costly blunder by the Agunfoye’s goalkeeper, Osho, on the 82nd minute as he failed to deal with a set piece which was powerfully noded into the net by Agali ( in number 15 jersey ) to give Agbele the lead.
The third goal for Agbele FC came in the 89th minute when a substitute, Shina Agogo (wearing no 5 jersey), connected another set piece taken by Esho Yusuf to take the match beyond their opponents.
Although, players of both teams gave their best on the field of play with brilliant display which underscored their mastery of the round leather game, the duo of Ismail (wearing no 10 jersey for Agunfoye FC ) and Esho Yusuf (wearing no 11 jersey for Agbele FC ) were the outstanding players of the final match.
Agbele FC got to the final by beating Oreyo FC two goals to nil while Agunfoye FC beat Oreta FC five goals to four in a keenly contested penalty shoot – out to book a place in the final match, after playing a 1-1 draw in the regulation time.
Esho Yusuf of Agbele FC expectedly emerged as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the competition; while Special Player Recognition Award was presented to Yinusa Ayeni of Oreta FC for showing ability in disability and Kingsley Peter of Agbele F.C won the Best Goalkeeper (Golden Glove) of the tournament.
Mr Olalekan Ahmed Aroyewun was the Match Commissioner, while the match officials; Oladosu Tokunbo (Center Referee), Ajenifuja Idris, (Assistant Referee), Alagbe Adeyinka, (Assistant Referee), and Adedokun Adebukola, (Reserved Referee) were also given medals for professionally officiating the match.
