Rehoboth FC records back- to- back victory in Bishop Mike Okonkwo Football Tournament

Rehoboth FC records back- to- back victory in Bishop Mike Okonkwo Football Tournament

Defending champions Rehoboth FC, Saturday recorded back- to back victory in the annual Bishop Mike Okonkwo Football Tournament.

In an entertaining finals decided at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos, the team scored two second half goals to end the game 2-0 and ensure they lift the trophy for the second consecutive year.

The first half saw both teams coming into the game with determination to outdo each other but were unable to find the back of the net which ended the half goalless.

At the beginning of the second half, Rehoboth became more adventerous, making constant incursions into their opponent's goal area but were put on check by the agile goalkeeper of Believers FC, Bassy Emmanuel.

However, the deadlock was broken in the 75th minutes of play when Sobur Azeez got the curtain raiser for his side.

Immediately after the goal, Believers FC tried all they could to cancel out the goal, but were not successful. Their woes was compounded at stoppage time, when Jonathan Samson did a solo run to slot in the second goal to end the game 2-0 in favour of the defending champions.

In the women finals, last year's finalists, Wazbak FC failed to play the second fiddle again when they defeated Future Stars 99 FC 4-3 penalties after their game ended 1-1 at regulation time, to lift the trophy.

Also in the third place matches, Future Stars 99 FC defeated Giggson FC by 6-5 penalties after playing a goalless draw to emerge the third best team of the tournament while in the women category, Jojo Queens beat Unification Talent Fc 2-0 to win the third place match.

In their separate remarks after the finals, Coach of Rehoboth FC, Kehinde Bajudeen and his Wazbak FC counterpart, Kazeem Arowole, attributed their teams victory to hard work and dedication.

According to them, their teams played to instruction which gave them victory just as they pledged to defend the title next year.

They were also full of praise to Bishop Mike Okonkwo, for his consistency in sponsoring the championship which they said has given youths opportunity to exhibit their football talent

Speaking while handing over trophies and medals to the winning teams, sponsor of the tournament, Bishop Mike Okonkwo commended all the teams for their discipline throughout the duration of the championship.

The Man of God while charging the winners to be magnanimous in victory and the losers not to lose hope, commended the Main Organising Committee of the championship for putting up a seamless competition.

"I'm happy with the football artistry displayed by all the teams from the preliminaries to the finals.

"It's equally a thing of joy that the players maintained high level of discipline throughout the duration of the tournament and I congratulate them for that.

"As for the MOC, they did well and they deserve commendation for a job well done and I also give God all the Glory for helping us sustain this tournament for the past 21 years", he stated.

Chairman of the Main Organizing Committee, Deacon Malachy Ndubuzor while expressing happiness for a successful conclusion of the tournament, commended Bishop Mike Okonkwo for his love for youth development and empowerment which the tournament is all about.

He charged the various national team coaches to beam their searchlight on the tournament, to enable them discover quality players that will be of help to them.

"I must have to thank our Daddy in the Lord Bishop Mike Okonkwo for initiating this championship and for his unwavering support to it which has given the youths of this country hope.

"I also want to use this opportunity to appeal to our national team coaches to start paying attention to this competition because they will discover many talented players here", he stressed

The Most Valuable Payer was won by Ibrahim Ashimyu of Rehoboth FC, while Adediran Abibat of Wazbak FC, took the women gong.

Elijah Kingsley of Royal Phonex FC who scored a total of 6 goals, won the highest goal scorer award while that of women went to Adediran Abibat of Wazbak FC.

The best goalkeeper award was won by Bassy Emmanuel of Believers FC with Lawal Basirat of Wazbak winning that of the women.

The championship was also used to celebrate the 81st birthday of the presiding Bishop of 'The Redeemed Evangelical Mission' (TREM) Bishop Mike Okonkwo