A 25th minute goal, a penalty kick converted by Baldwin Bazuaye of the1985 U-16 World Cup fame was all it took for homers Crescent Sports Club to turn back visiting NaijaGunners FC of Lagos after a crunchy 90 minutes of football in Benin-City on Saturday.
Led by Micheal Egboh Jr, the medical doctor president of the club, the home team turned on the heat on the visitors right from the blast of the referee’s whistle but a rattled NaijaGunners defence led by strong centre back Vincent Okeleke and inspirational goal keeper, George Chukwuma quickly regained composure to stabilize the team with the support of two brothers in the team, Oluwole Akinrinde and Sola Akinrinde who captained the team.
NaijaGunners made some dangerous forays into the vital box of the homers after they seized the midfield as the game progressed but a handball by their defender in an attempt to head away a corner kick handed CSC a penalty advantage against the run of play.
Baldwin Bazuaye, an AFCON Silver medalist and All Africa Games Bronze winner didn’t fail to convert from 12 yards, sending the crowd into jubilation.
A few chances fell the way of Uyi Oloton, Ikponwosa omoregie and Henry Kadiri upfront for CSC but the ball just refused to find its’ way into the net. All that didn’t matter at the end as the likes of Osaro Egharevba, Esosa Ihama, Mark Osazuwa, Solomon Ovenseri provided adequate cover in defence for goalkeeper Muktari Usman ensuring the scores stood at 1-0 as the referee brought the game to a halt after the 2nd half failed to produce any goal.
One of the Grand Patrons Richard Aburime, a founder member of the Crescent Sports Club commended the Lagos based side for a spirited performance while congratulating his own team for preserving their own unbeaten home run, a record the team guards jealously and flaunts with pride at every occasion.
Talks are ongoing about a rematch, possibly in Lagos in a not too distant future.
