Resilient Lions tamed by Insurance 

The Selection

First choice in the goalkeeping department, Emmanuel Yakubu retained his spot in goal with Otaki Tope making the reserve list.

The familiar trio of the Men’s team A defence, Ojo Seun, Skipper Lekan Ajeyomi and Sunday Emmanuel were preferred to lead the defence line, with Afolabi Adeyina still recovering from an ankle injury, Adedayo Adeyemi and Haruna Yusuf got the nod at the base of the midfield, Onome Adepoju was preferred over Micheal Akpovie on the right wing back position while Omolade Ibitayo filled in from the left wing back position. Men’s team B forward Opeyemi Ogundumila partnered Chinedu Okorie upfront in a 3-5-2 formation.

Tasky 45

The host stamped their superiority status right from kickoff as they overloaded the lions with an all attack style and could have scored as early as in the 5th minute but for a good save from Emmanuel Yakubu. The goal however came in the 13th minute through a penalty kick after the referee spotted a handball in our 18yard area which was converted by the host to put them ahead.

They continued to search for more but our defense line stood tall and rigid with Emmanuel Yakubu having a very busy day with quite a number of good saves to keep the scoreline the way it was to end the busy and demanding 45 minutes for the lions.

Second 45

Picking up from where they left off, the host doubled their lead just 4 minutes after the restart from a corner kick with the scorer completely left unmarked.

However from this point the lions started to dominate the game and started creating different chances of their own but just couldn’t beat the goalkeeper, quite a number of chances that would have at least given us a consolation goal well deserved not converted by chinedu and Tobi who either missed the target narrowly or had the goalkeeper put up a great save to deny their attempts.

Despite the result, it was a very great outing for the boys and one full of lessons and experiences to learn from the NPFL side.

What’s next

The boys are to continue their Bet9ja league campaign tomorrow with a clash against Barrack eagles.

Wonderxchange XI (3-5-2): Emmanuel; Lekan, Sunday(Abednego 80), Seun(Victor 73); Omolade(Musa 73), Onome(Akpovie 52), Adedayo( Olayemi 65), Haruna, Melody(Emeka 60); Chinedu, Opeyemi ( Oluwatobi 52) 

Bendel Insurance: Amas, Odinaka, Dede, Sodje, Benjamin, Sunday, Muyiwa, Sarki , Imade, Prince, Paul.