Jonathan ADEYEMO and Tolulope Mary OGUNMOLA (SIWES Students)
After about two weeks of intense football actions, four teams have qualified for the finals stage of the 2018 Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS) 5-Aside Football Championship.
Ladejobi, Olorun Loni Koribe FC, Olowoeyo FC and Ikorodu West Ward D defeated their opponents in their respective semi-finals played at the Ikorodu Youth Centre Playing Ground, Ita-Elewa, Ikorodu on Thursday, November 8, 2018.
40 teams, representing different streets and areas in Ikorodu, entered for this year’s edition of the tournament and were splitted into 10 groups of four teams each for the group stage while 20 teams later qualified for the next round.
The final match will be played at the Ikorodu Youth Centre Playing Ground, Ita-Elewa, on Saturday, November 10, 2018.
Ladejo FC defeated Lamina FC by a lone goal to qualify for the finals.
The first half of the highly intense and entertaining match, which kicked-off at 3.22pm, ended goalless but the two teams resumed for the second half with great determination to outplay each other.
However, Ismail Salami of Ladejobi FC broke the deadlock to score the only goal of the match.
In the second semi-final match between Olorun Loni Koribe FC and Great Minds FC, Adetunji Joseph scored the first goal in the 16th minute of the first half to give Olorun Loni Koribe FC the lead while Shakiru Shokunbi added the second goal in the 10th minute of the second half to seal the victory for the home team.
Gunshepori and Olowoeyo played a goalless draw in the regulation time of the third quarter-final match which was later decided by penalty shootouts.
In the penalty shootouts, Olowoeye FC converted 4 penalties to defeat their opponents who converted three.
The last quarter-final match witnessed harvest of goals as Ikorodu West Ward D FC whitewashed Oluwakemi FC 5 goals to 1.
Sahid Egbe-Olowo opened the scoring for Ikorodu West FC in the 3rd minute of the first half while every other effort of both sides failed to produce more goals.
Justin Mbanusi, however, equalized for Oluwakemi FC in the 1st minute of the second half before the duo of Yemi Owolabi and Saheed Egbe-Olowo scored the second and third goals in the second and fifth minutes respectively to restore the lead for Ikorodu West FC.
David Charles added two more goals for Ikorodu West FC to take the match beyond their opponents.
According to the organizers, a draw would be held to pair the four teams into two groups for the final matches while the winners of the two matches progress to the final match to decide the 2018 champions of the tournament.
