Bendel Insurance Football Club on Wednesday defeated St. Andrews FC 2-1 to secure quarter finals place in the 2024 Edo FA Cup at the S&T Barrack’s Football Field, Ugbowo, Benin city.
Raymond Ikhenoba placed Insurance in front immediately after kick off, and St. Andrews responded through George Amos who brought them back into the game in the 27th minute when he was left unmarked in the area, leaving goalkeeper Joshua Baba vulnerable to his low drive.
Coach Greg Ikhenoba afterwards, made multiple substitutions, introducing Ebuka Akobundu to strengthen his defence. He also introduced Divine Nwachukwu, Evans Ogboda and Junior Osaghae to fortify his attack.
The changes paid off when they mounted pressure on their opponents which resulted in Junior Osaghae netting the winner in the 76th minute.
The forward struck from a very tight angle after receiving a pass from the right flank, from Haruna Abubakar
The Benin Arsenals will be facing their Feeders team in the quarter final clash, scheduled for Friday, March 22.
The Insurance Feeders had secured the quarter finals place at the expense of Alhaji FC, who were disqualified from the competition on Tuesday following the decision of the Edo FA’s disciplinary committee in the case of assault on referee and disruption of game proceedings by their fans.
Insurance Feeders who were on standby alongside the defending champions in the first round locked horns with the Alhaji FC on Monday evening at the Western Boys College Field but the Alhaji FC fans reportedly brought the game to an end abruptly after invading the field of play, beating up the referees to incur the consequences of violating the FA laws.
