UI 2-0 Lead City
TWO LATE GOALS AS UI EDGE LEAD CITY 2NIL
It seemed certain to be a frustrating afternoon for the Ui team, who were stifled by the away Lead City's resilience from the blast of the whistle. The premier University failed to impress the home crowd for much of the first 45 minutes. Passes went astray too frequently much to the dismay of coach Allen and the home fans who despite the school not being in session had trooped in, in their hundreds.
UI lined up in what seemed to be a 4-4-2 formation with playmaker Akangbe Afolabi (Afo) of Zik starting out rather surprisingly on the left side of the midfield. Veteran and Captain, Kante benched, a left footer, Ibrahim at RB, Yem Jo not in the XI either, Coach Allen had somehow managed to surprise everyone.
It was a quite boring first 20 minutes of football. Hard flying tackles, compact defending, a very conservative approach from the away team and it was seemingly going to be a barren draw.
The introduction of team captain kante in the first half certainly brought life into the game. Breaking the opposition lines with intelligent reading of the game, the “first and best” were in total control. The first shot on target some moment before the break as Michael broke free on the edge of the box and unleashed a rocket of a shot well parried away by the opposition's number one down to his left. Moments later a brilliant freekick from Ibrahim was saved once more but this time not without the help of the woodwork.
The second half saw a couple more shots saved by the Lead City number one who at a point received a warm applause from the home crowd. Things were getting nervy and one could slice through the tension with a knife.
After several attempts, the hosts finally found the back of the net midway into the second half as Yemi Jo's bullet header proved this time to be unstoppable. The shouts and drums beats that ensued could most definitely be heard from Idia. Moments later, the lead seemed to be doubled after substitute Yem jo tapped in from close range but was ruled offside by the assistant referee on the far side. The second goal was not to be denied though after captain of the side face to face with the goalkeeper unselfishly laid the ball on a platter of gold for the number 9, Bolu who slammed home into the empty net.
The highline which the UI pioneers are famously known to deploy proved effective as their opponents were caught offside numerous times.
What next? Finding a win despite an uninspiring performance was what the team needed to kick start the PRENUGA games, qualifiers for the NIGERIA UNIVERSITY GAMES taking place in Lagos this year. They face First Technical University on Thursday 27th January in a must win game for both teams. The former were hammered 7-1 by LAUTECH.