By Jacobson Park
The Matchday six encounter of the Nigeria Women Football League between Bayelsa Queens of Yenagoa and visiting Edo Queens of Benin lived up to its billing as a clash of the titans. With the Champion of the League picking a first-ever Continental ticket, the very best of NWFL was on display.
The match kicked off at a fast pace with both teams searching for an early lead. but it was the Gloryland Girls that opened the scoring when Captain Joy Jerry benefitted from a miscommunication between the Edo Queens Goalkeeper and her Defender to round up the Kepper to put the Host ahead on 19th minutes.
The ovation that greeted that opener had hardly died down when Elizabeth Zirike punished Bayelsa Queens to put Edo Queens level on 24th minutes to silence the home fans to end the first half on even terms.
The highly entertaining match saw more drama in the second half when substitute Charity Rueben nodded the host into the lead again from a supercross on 48 minutes. But the Benin girls pushed forward for an equalizer and got rewarded with a 69th minutes penalty when the referee spotted an infringement against Bayelsa Queens in the box which Elizabeth Zirike converted to draw level again.
The match was heading for a draw when Charity Rueben broke the heart of the Edo girls to slot home the winner in the 92nd minutes to send the Bayelsa Queens supporters into ecstasy.
Coach Rolanson Odey applauded his girls for putting up a good fight despite conceding their first defeat of the season and also the host team for their resilience till the end. But promised that the fight for the league title is still on for his team.
On his part, Coach Moses Aduku praised his team for not giving up despite being pegged back twice by Edo Queens and thinks his team threw away scoring opportunities to have put the game to bed early.
With this win, Bayelsa Queens still tops the Nigeria Women Football League NWFL with fifteen points from six matches and will next visit Abia Angels in Umuahia.
The Matchday six encounter of the Nigeria Women Football League between Bayelsa Queens of Yenagoa and visiting Edo Queens of Benin lived up to its billing as a clash of the titans. With the Champion of the League picking a first-ever Continental ticket, the very best of NWFL was on display.
The match kicked off at a fast pace with both teams searching for an early lead. but it was the Gloryland Girls that opened the scoring when Captain Joy Jerry benefitted from a miscommunication between the Edo Queens Goalkeeper and her Defender to round up the Kepper to put the Host ahead on 19th minutes.
The ovation that greeted that opener had hardly died down when Elizabeth Zirike punished Bayelsa Queens to put Edo Queens level on 24th minutes to silence the home fans to end the first half on even terms.
The highly entertaining match saw more drama in the second half when substitute Charity Rueben nodded the host into the lead again from a supercross on 48 minutes. But the Benin girls pushed forward for an equalizer and got rewarded with a 69th minutes penalty when the referee spotted an infringement against Bayelsa Queens in the box which Elizabeth Zirike converted to draw level again.
The match was heading for a draw when Charity Rueben broke the heart of the Edo girls to slot home the winner in the 92nd minutes to send the Bayelsa Queens supporters into ecstasy.
Coach Rolanson Odey applauded his girls for putting up a good fight despite conceding their first defeat of the season and also the host team for their resilience till the end. But promised that the fight for the league title is still on for his team.
On his part, Coach Moses Aduku praised his team for not giving up despite being pegged back twice by Edo Queens and thinks his team threw away scoring opportunities to have put the game to bed early.
With this win, Bayelsa Queens still tops the Nigeria Women Football League NWFL with fifteen points from six matches and will next visit Abia Angels in Umuahia.
