Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin on Friday return to winning ways following an outstanding performance against Gombe Utd with a convincing 2-0 victory in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Match Day 24 tie in Benin.
Sarki Ismael scored a brace to help the Benin Arsenal stroll past the Desert Scorpions and put an end to their goal drought since resumption for the second round of the season.
Sarki Ismael’s goals looked divine as the number seven hardworking striker opened scoring for Insurance in the 7th minute of play after picking a through pass from Osaghae Junior and rounded Gombe Goalkeeper, Itodo Akor, before slotting the ball into the empty net conveniently.
Determined to quench their thirst for victory after suffering huge disappointments in four games, Sarki pounced on another fine pass from Chisom Okereke and swiftly buried it into the left corner of the net to make his side comfortable in the 30 minutes of play, giving Insurance their first win since resumption of the second round of the league.
The Benin Arsenals’ first victory in the second round at the famous Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, however did not sale through without any strong challenges and threats from the opponents as Gombe’s left winger, Yusuf Taiye and Valentine Egiga distinguished themselves in launching fiercely attacks which were curtailed by Hussaini Abdullahi, Ebuka Akonbudu and their leader Sunday Anyanwu who remained solid throughout.
Recall that Insurance suffered a 1-0 defeat at Sporting Lagos on resumption in the second round, and pulled a 0-0 draw with Enyimba in the following match in Benin, before double away 1-0 and 2-0 losses to Shooting Stars and Plateau Utd respectively.
Insurance FC who suffered a 1-0 defeat to Gombe Utd in their first round meeting in Gombe state now have 34 points after 24 matches and will be guests to Akwa Utd on Wednesday in the Match Day 25 fixture.
In a post match interview, the Assistant coach of Bendel Insurance FC, coach Greg Ikhenoba, who stood in for coach Monday Odigie in the game, gave kudos to his boys for playing to instructions which resulted in the convincing 2-0 victory.
“We are excited about the victory because we have been going through some difficulty and have been unlucky to get goals after hardwork in some of our games but I thank God we got the goals today.
“I want to thank my boss coach Monday Odigie for having confidence in me;giving me the privilege to lead the team in his absence,” Greg said.
Coach Greg Ikhenoba further stated that there is room for improvement, adding that the team will surely continue to work on identified areas of weaknesses before the next game.
