BENIN CITY – Bendel Insurance FC of Benin redeemed their image by beating giant killers,Cynosure FC 1-0 to keep their hope of qualifying for the semifinals of the Okowa Preseason tournament alive.

The Benin Arsenals who brushed aside Remo Stars in their first game later recorded disappointing results of 2-1 and 2-0 losses against Lobi Stars and Kwara Utd subsequently.

Consequently, the Benard Ogbe led Insurance are now at the mercy of Lobi Stars who are already through to the semifinals comfortably with 9 points and have their last group game with Kwara Utd who need three points to also scale through. Kwara Utd have four points and must beat Lobi Stars or be sent packing alongside Cynosure FC.

Zaidu Ayuba scored the only goal of the match for Bendel Insurance after a well converted spot kick which Cynosure FC keeper could not find any answer to in the Group B clash at the Stephen Keshi Stadium.

The 74th minute penalty spot kick resulted from a hard tackle on Imade Osarenkhoe by Cynosure defender.

The Benin Arsenals would have won by two nil if the center referee had awarded the second penalty five minutes later when Ojo Tolulope was brought down in the box.

Cynosure had their moments during the opening 45 minutes of action, but Deji Ayeni’s side were strongly resisted by Efe Enabulele ,Maurice Prince and Benjamin Tanimu to keep the game in Insurance control.

With the game slipping from their grasp, Cynosure bombarded the Insurance area and created more chances but failed to respond.

The game of Kwara Utd and Lobi Stars will now determine who plays in the semifinals between Insurance and Kwara Utd tomorrow.