Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin on Sunday returned to winning ways in the Nigeria Premier Football League with a 1-0 victory over table-toppers Remo Stars of Ikenne 1-0 in Benin.
Sarki Ismael scored the only goal of the match for the Benin Arsenals in the match day seven fixture, in the 24th minute of play. Sarki’s long-range strike from the right flank of the field caught Remo Stars Goalie Charles Tambe off guard, sending the home fans into jubilation at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, Benin.
Insurance FC continued to dictate the pace of the game till the end of the first half. They continued with their dominance in the second half until about the 70th minute of play when the Daniel Ogunmodede side came out of their Shells to pull some strings but all to no avail.
The Benin Arsenals’ impressive performance and victory over the Sky Blue side did not happen without tough resistance from the visitors who however caused some scare. The Insurers survived the first big scare in the 77th minute when the Remo hitman Sikiru Alimi missed an open net chance following a through pass that crossed the Insurance goal mouth untouched, as his strike went wide.
The second invasion by the Sky Blue boys was when Jide Fatokun fired a well-propelled rocket that braced through to the net in the 84th minute of play but was canceled due to the foul throw already committed by his teammate.
While the controversial goal was being celebrated by Remo Stars, the Assistant Referee remained firm in keeping his flag up and informed the center referee that it was a foul throw.
Expectedly, the distraught Remo Stars side caused a stir temporarily in their reaction to the referee’s call which led to eight minutes of extra play time added after 90 minutes of regulation time.
In a post-match interview, the Head coach and Technical Director of Bendel Insurance FC Monday Odigie appreciated the efforts of his boys. He admitted that Insurance has been battling with fixing the striker’s department after the exit of their goal poacher Imade Osarenkhoe and a few others.
Coach Odigie expressed the optimism that Insurance FC will get better as the league progresses, noting that his team is a work in progress.
Also speaking, the head coach of Remo Stars Daniel Ogunmodede expressed his displeasure over the goal that did not stand, saying that it was superb but admitted that he did not see the action of his player that led to the referee’s response.
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He maintained that it was the duty of the referees to be firm in their decisions as they are the ones who follow and see the players and their actions than other persons.
Coach Ogunmodede, however, gave kudos to Bendel Insurance defenders.
” We came with our game plan to win and my players did very well, especially in the second half but Insurance defenders showed character. They were solid. I must give it to them. They were crazy and didn’t allow anything to come near their goal area. ” Ogunmodede said.
The slim victory over Remo Stars has now pushed the Benin Arsenals to the sixth position on the log with ten points from five outings.
The Benin Arsenals are scheduled to be guests to Doma Utd in their rescheduled match day six game on Wednesday at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe.
