Organisers of this year’s edition of the annual LAB Memorial Football Carnival have received a shower of praise, following their smooth start to the 2024 competition and healthy atmosphere at the venue.
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It is the third edition of this high-profile grassroots football competition named in honour of a leading sports administrator, Alhaji Layiwola Ayinde Balogun (aka LAB), who died on June 4, 2021.
The first edition took place at Iwaya Field near Yaba, while last year’s final held amidst fanfare at the University of Lagos sports complex, thereby raising expectations that Season 3 would be even better.
Confirmation of that possibility has now been buttressed with bolts of excitement and rain of goals that set the ball rolling on Wednesday, as last year’s losing semi-finalists, Right Vision FC defeated Newcastle FC 5-0.
However, while expressing satisfaction with the victory and scoreline, a player in the winning team, Azeez Jubril said it was not a stroll in the park, adding that it would be wrong to rate the match as a walkover due to the heavy scoreline.
While hailing the opponents’ fighting spirit, Jubril reckoned that the rain of goals heralded what he believes should be an exciting contest and dismissed insinuation that the opponents were not a good side.
He went on to express satisfaction with the quality of play put up by both sides and stressed that the organisers deserve accolades for putting together what he called a perfect competition.
The youngster externuated further, “It’s an incredible competition. The way the atmosphere is going, everything is smooth. Everything about this competition is like perfect and well planned.
“We actually came here to enjoy, to have fun and, at the same time, to win the cup, of course. We are on the right track and actually progressing.
“I give kudos to the organisers and the committee for this competition. It has been perfect so far.”
Jubril went on to look at his team’s chances of winning the cup this year, which would make up for their loss to eventual champions, Melody FC, in the first semi-final of the 2023 edition.
He, however, ruled out any talk of overconfidence or pride on the part of his side, pledging that they will give each opponent due respect and take all their matches with the seriousness they deserve.
“We are not really looking at other teams as a walkover, because we have to respect every opponent,” Jubril added.
“We came into the game with a growth mindset, and our target was to take three points; which we actually did. But, it was not like underrating the opponent.
“We came here with full focus and determination. They definitely played very well, but they were unlucky today.
“We give God the glory for giving us the three points and everything … the victory and the goals.
“It was not like an easy match, in spite of the high number of goals. It was a very difficult and interesting match, but we had the luck to score five goals against them.”
