Jameria Harmony Cup Final: Orphiel FC Get Late Goal To Emerge As Champions

SUNDAY AKINTOYE

A late goal from Benjamin Elkanen was Orphiel FC needed to defeat Brave Football International at the recent Jameria Harmony Cup final, which was held at the Harmony football field, Ayobo, Alimosho, Lagos.

The final ceremony, watched by a mammoth crowd, saw the two teams entertain the fans with their football artistry and ended 1-0 in favour of Orphiel FC.

Both teams created some scoring chances during the encounter and failed to convert them before Elkanen headed a late goal to send their fans into wild jubilation.

Speaking after the pulsating tie, Orphiel Coach, Akinyemi Ajayi expressed gratitude to God for the hard-fought victory boasted that his players played better and deserved the victory.

“It was a tough match for both teams and you can see that we got our winning goal last minute.However I also commend my boys for the good fight and brilliant effort made throughout the competition.Truly we deserve to be crowned as Champions,”he said.

While Brave FC technical director, Kazeem Alabi admitted that their opponents deserved the victory but commended his boys for their good performance.

“It was not our day.My boys played unfortunately we lost to a better side.I won’t say they outplayed us but they were lucky to have won the game.We were technically better than them on the field of play unfortunately we lost at the last minute,”he said.

Some of the football administrators who spoke to our correspondent expressed satisfaction with the standard of the play by the finalists and showered praises on the organising committee led by Olumide Adedapo Ajayi for the job well done.

Leader of Ikeja Football Coaches Council,Babatunde Adeshina pleased with the officiating and organisation of the tournament saying that this year’s Jameria Harmony Cup had lived up to expectations.

In his own remarks, match convener, Olumide Ajayi thanked the sponsors, Trevor Walters and Tharmm Equest, the UK’s Premier Black Entertainment Company for making this year’s edition a huge success and also expressed his deepest appreciation to God, volunteers, coaches, and the media crew for their contributions to the success of the competition.

“The success recorded about Jameria harmony football tournament 2025 is not totally from the organisers but from you all.

“You made the task effortless, you presented teams that gave us the best of grassroot football that is close to what we see on TV. The noise is just like the one at big European stadia, it is on record that there is no major or minor injury throughout the tournament and we all accepted results in good faith and in sportsmanship spirit.

“Words enough can’t express our feelings, but we just want to say thank you all.As organisers, we acted accordingly to our conscience and rules of the tournament without favouritism. All nominees and eventual winners throughly merited the awards.

To all affiliated coaches who participated in our tournament, you are a good symbol of togetherness.You understand what it takes to develop talents, and you represented your councils well,”he concluded.

During the medal presentation, Orphiel players received their medals and pocketed sum of N300,000 for the prize money and a giant trophy, while Brave FC got the sum of N200,000