Wonder Lions made to rue missed chances after a late solitary strike wins it all for the visitors
The Selection
Due to the unavailability of the Head Coach, the Assistant Coach, Ologun Gbenga took over the touchline responsibility and named Otaki Tope in goal, Akingbade Bonny who was initially selected to partner with Emmanuel Sunday and Ajeyomi Lekan in defence developed fever before kickoff and was replaced by Ojo Seun. Afolabi Adeyina started in defensive midfield flanked upwards in attacking midfield by Bello Olayemi and Dahunsi Tobi, Ibitayo Omolade and Akpovie Micheal started from the wingback positions while Amaechi Sunday partnered with Okorie Chinedu upfront.
Kickoff
It was a slow start for both sides as the two sides threaded with caution and worked to retain the ball to look for an opening through long balls forward and counter attacks.
However a very heavy downpour started in the 13th minute which resulted in a waterlogged pitch within few minutes making the free flow of play very difficult but the center referee decided to continue with the match.
The away side could have taken the lead in the 27th minute after an attacker spotted our GK out of his area and fired a long range effort from distance but Otaki Tope quickly tracked back to make a decent save for a corner kick.
The final real threat of the first half fell to wingback Akpovie Micheal who took a free kick from outside the 18 yard area but the opponent’s GK tips his effort out for a corner kick.
Second half
The Lions kicked off the second half with a much better terrain to play on as the rain had subsided well enough but a big drama ensued in the 52nd minute when Assistant Coach Ologun Gbenga had an altercation with the center referee having had his complaints known to him but the referee wasn’t having any of it and sent him to the stands with a red card to the disbelief of many.
The introduction of forward Ademola Aremu and Terdoo Melody in the 56th minute sparked up the attack a bit more and could have resulted in the much needed opening just 8 minutes after the former combined with Amaechi Sunday with both strikers firing wide in quick successions.
The deadlock was however broken against the run of play when our GK Otaki Tope miscued a loose ball and allowed Akindola Emmanuel to fire the visitors into the lead with a tap in into an empty net which later turned out to be the match winning strike to give the Ado-ekiti based side a victory over the lions.
What’s next?
The Lions will be up against Sunshine Stars FC in another friendly game tomorrow with kickoff at 3:00pm to further intensify preparations in readiness for the fast approaching Bet9ja State league.
Wonderxchange FC (3-1-4-2): Tope; Seun, Sunday, Lekan; OmoLade(Fisayo 79), Akpovie (Onome 87), Afolabi(Segun 71), Tobi(Emeka 75), Olayemi(Melody 56), Amaechi ,Chinedu (Aremu 56)
Unused Subs: Peter, Abednego, Adedayo, Oloore, Emelike, Osasu, Prince, Joseph, Samson.
Booked: Sunday Emmanuel (Yellow card 83)
Football Connect FC: Semedo; Eben(C), Damilare, Anifowose, Toheeb, Prince, Israel, Anthony, Kante, Dunsin, Emeka
Reserves: Sanya, Damola, Emmanuel, Taiwo, Kehinde, Fash, Lekan, Samuel.
