Oyah Sports Win FCT Igbo Cup in 5 Goals Thriller

FRANCIS ACHI/Abuja

Football loving fans in Abuja were treated to sublime football artistry at the finals of Igbo Football  League Unity Cup when Oyah  Sports Football Club defeated Shining Stars Academy of Saburi 3-2 to win the 8th edition of the tournament last weekend.

Oyah Sports Football Club began the game in a dazzling form with Doumbia Mohammed orchestrating action from the midfield with splint passes and dribbling skills and occasional overlapping runs from Ikechukwu Okorie, who was marshalling the left full back as they piled pressure on their opponents at the early stage of the thrilling encounter.

There were no stars shinning for Shinning Stars Academy as the efforts of Oyah Sports Football Club yielded fruits in quick successions when Kouame Sakpa Yves , a former Ivorien Under 20 striker, opened his goals scoring account on the 8th minute. It was a swift interchange of passes from the midfield that found Yves inside the box and he slotted the ball into the net with a cool finish.

Yves was too difficult to handle by the defenders of Shining Stars Academy as the striker soon found the back of the net again to score his brace in the 13th and from then, the Suleja Boys took complete control of the game, spraying passes among themselves to the delight of their fans, who thronged the Area 3 Football Centre in Abuja as first half ended 2-0.

More drama was to follow in the second half as Shining Stars Academy stepped up their game, playing like wounded lions and they were able to pull a goal back in the 53rd min , which was more interesting with the tide of attack changing in favour of Shining Stars Academy , who were now piling pressure in search of an equaliser .

However , the central defence partnership of Ousmane Adama Quattara and left footed Camara Chieck  Ibrahim stood the test of time and they were able to soak the pressure to wade off any doom and gradually they were able to take control of the game , which paid off with the back breaking third goal scored by Doumbia Mohammed, the mercurial midfielder whom Simeon Hunt,a football scout dubbed the next  “Jay Jay Okocha of Africa”

It was a splendid counter attack from Oyah Sports Football Club from the left side of the midfield by Okorie , which was well connected by Mohammed with a low drive into the net to make it 3-1 in the 62nd min.

But the game ended in a nervy atmosphere for Oyah Sports Football Club as they conceeded a penalty which was converted into goal by Shinning Stars in the 81st minute to make it 3-2 , but efforts to get the equaliser proved abortive,  as the centre referee signalled the end of the game and Oyah Sports Football Club were crowned the champions.