Benin – Insurance Football Club of Benin were on Tuesday knocked out of the Federation Cup in Edo at the Round of 16 by BJ Foundation FC.
The Nigeria National League (NNL) side and former national FA Cup winners were beaten 4-2 on penalty kicks after their game ended 1-1 at regulation time.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both teams played a well-entertaining football to the delight of fans who turned out en mass to cheer their teams.
BJ Foundation, who excelled in the national competition last season, were dominant in the first half with more precision in their passes.
But Insurance FC came out strongly in the second half, playing with more cohesion and coming close to taking the lead on three occasions.
Insurance, after scoring through Prince Isuku in the 38th minute of the highly entertaining match, tried unsuccessfully to take the lead.
On their part, BJ Foundation introduced three players in the second half in their bid to regain the lead after scoring through Abbat Junior in the 10th minute of the encounter.
However, the match went into a penalty shootout after the scoreline remained 1-1 at the end of the second half.
At the end of the match, BJ Foundation’s coach Douglas Idahosa said he had his eyes on playing in the final of the national Federation Cup.
On his part, Insurance FC’s coach Roland Ewere, commended his players for a good performance.
He said losing through penalty kicks was one of those things in football, adding that a penalty shootout was always anybody’s game.
Ewere however said he had always used the Federation Cup to assess his team ahead of the NNL.
