Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin, weekend produced a superlative performance as they defeated Ibom Youths FC 3-1 to lead the Nigeria National League (NNL) Group B1.
The Benin Arsenal did not leave anyone in doubt on their capabilities and determination to win convincingly as they
stamped their authority beginning from kickoff time with their mercurial winger Meyinwa Oritseweyinmi opened scoring for the host thiree minutes into the game.
The early goal sent the home fans into jubilation at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.
The visitors however did not relent as they looked dangerous enough to spoil Insurance day,kept the tempo of the game Balanced and pressured Insurance goalie Kolawole Oladipo whose groping hands gifted Gift Henshaw with a loose ball that he camly headed home to give the visitors the equaliser in the 25th minute of play.
The determined Benin Arsenal who looked challenged by the equaliser roared more and continued to dictate the pace and their efforts were rewarded with a spot kick in the 39th minute of play after Meyiwa Oritseweyinmi’s goal bound shot was blocked by Ibom Youth FC defender in the box. The spot kick was well converted in the 41st minute by Benjamin Tanimu to give Bendel Insurance a 2-1 comfortable lead before the half time break.
The hunger and thirst for more goals by the host side continued as both sides filed out for the second stanza. Both sides showed class and in the 69th minute substitute Ifeanyi Iheme dashed away with a through pass in the left flank before he released the rocket shot into the roof of the net to increase the tally for Insurance.
Insurance remained ruthless and continued to dictate the pace with show of strength and skills to the delight of the home fans. It is undoubtedly Insurance FC best performance this season.
In a post-match interview, Bendel Insurance Assistant coach, Greg Ikhenoba enthusiastically said that winning was the aim and that it was well achieved.
“We thank God for His grace and intelligence granted our boys to win. For every game we play, we plan to win and the case is not different today, and it doesn’t matter how you win. Sometimes you need to work extra hard to achieve your aim while in some ,you are lucky to easy win.” He said.
According to coach Greg,“We are still building the team and looking at the new players on how to blend them with the older ones”.
On Insurance next game away at Gateway Utd , coach Greg said that they expect nothing far from the game against Ibom Youth FC. “We will go and come back with good result.”
Insurance have week 5 engagement with Gateway Utd FC on Wednesday,Match 9,2022.
Also speaking, the Ibom Youth FC coach Etuk Emmanuel, however noted that his side played against a solid side with quality. “We have watched the match and the result is not so bad, but we will go back and make sure we correct our mistakes and come out better next time ”.
Meanwhile, some fans of the Benin Arsenal had more than the winning to smile home about as Insurance players dashed their matchday jerseys out in celebration of their 3-1 victory against Ibom Youth FC at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
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