Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin on Tuesday, April 16 defeated Kano Pillars 2-1 in the Match Day 30 of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) as they fully recovered from their last home game defeat.
The Benin Arsenals came from behind and overpowered the highly tactical visiting Kano Pillars who went in front in the 16th minute of play with a fine curled strike from Mustapha Ibrahim.
The visitors had enjoyed the first half with better possession and went into the changing room with the 1-0 lead as all efforts by the home team to level up before the halftime whistle failed to yield any result.
On return from the halftime break, coach Monday Odigie managed Bendel Insurance came out of their shells and mounted pressure on the visitors who employed delay tactics and remained comfortable with the one goal lead.
In the 51st minute Coach Odigie introduced goal thirsty Osaghae Jr in the place of Chukwudi Meze which made a significant impact almost immediately as the substitute won a penalty kick for the Benin Arsenals in the 57th minutes when he was hacked down inside the visitors box in his effort to break the deadlock for the Benin Arsenals.
Sunday Anyanwu stepped forward and confidently converted the spot kick to restore parity for the hosts in the 58th minute of play.
In their continued search for goals, coach Odigie made double substitution in the 76th minute, replacing Sarki Ismael and Evans Ogbonda with Chisom Okereke and Michael Enaruna to strengthen Bendel Insurance attack.
The introduction of Chisom Okereke paid off in the 84th minute as his accurate pass from the left flank beat Kano’s defense traffic, making it easy for highly experienced Meyinwa Oritseweyinmi who calmly finished the job and secured the maximum points for the Benin Arsenals.
Meanwhile, the winning goal for Bendel Insurance FC earned Meyiwa Oritseweyinmi Man of the Match, an award sponsored by the new Deputy Governor of Edo state Engr Godwins Marvellous Omobayo who was impressed by the second half performance of Bendel Insurance FC.
Bendel Insurance now have 41 points from 30 fixtures and will be up against former league champions Lobi Stars in the match day 31 fixture scheduled to hold on Sunday in Lafia,
Recall that Bendel Insurance FC managed to escape with a goalless draw in their first encounter in Kano.
In a post match interview, Coach Greg Ikhenoba of Bendel Insurance commended his players for rising up to the challenge in the second half to get the three important points.
He however admitted that his side made a lot of mistakes in the first half which he said their technical crew will work on before their next game.
” I must commend the boys. They reacted well in the second half and got rewarded with the two good goals. You could see the antics of our opponents as they started delaying the game after their first half lead goal. I am happy that we were able to comeback into the game and won. ” Coach Ikhenoba said.
