By Christian Njoku
Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin on Wednesday defeated little-known Ahudiya Football Club 1-0 to advance in the round of 32 of the ongoing 2023 Federation Cup competition.
The match played at the U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar saw the team Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side struggling mostly against their amateur opponents in the first half.
They missed some good opportunities, and it was not until Sariki Ismail capitalised on an error by the Ahudiya backline to score in the 75th minute and take the game in hand.
The latter part of the match saw the team from Abiriba in Abia State coming all out against Bendel Insurance, but they were met with a stiff resistance.
The Assistant Coach of Bendel Insurance, Greg Ihenuba, later told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the match was a difficult one for his team.
He said his team was coming from the background of having played a difficult game at the weekend in the NPFL and had to bring in some fresh legs.
Ihenuba said this affected the team’s cohesion.
“We got some chances in the first half but didn’t convert them. That was not okay, because Federation Cup matches can go anywhere and if you don’t take your chances when you get them you may pay dearly,” he said.
On his part, Smart Eleanya, one of the officials of Ahudiya FC, disclosed that his team did their best.
“Some people expected that we would be beaten silly, because we are a very young club, but after losing by a lone goal, I believe we did well.
“But that we lost today does not mean we are giving up. We will continue to push to be a better team,” he said.
(NAN)
