Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin on Wednesday suffered a huge loss as Niger Tornadoes secured a 3-1 victory in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Matchday 28 tie, at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
The Benin Arsenals had to endure the pains of their seventeen-year-old strong record of no defeat at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium being destroyed by the strong wind from Niger State in the rescheduled midweek engagement after FA Cup success.
Recall that Bendel Insurance FC emerged champions of the Edo Football Association (Edo FA) Cup on Sunday, March 31, after a comfortable 3-1 victory over Ine Stars but not without a big sacrifice as their defense strongman, Sunday Anyanwu sustained an injury that kept him out of Tornadoes clash.
Niger Tornadoes stunned Bendel Insurance in the 13th minute of play as Ernest Chidiebere latched on a rebound ball which he brilliantly put in the right corner beyond the reach of Amas Obasogie to open scoring for the visitors.
Clinton Jephta became a thorn in the flesh of Insurance’s defence which missed the services of their leader Sunday Anyanwu as his clever pass met Akintunde Azeez who smartly smashed it into double the lead for the visitors in the 44th minute following poor communication between Insurance goalie and his defenders.
As time drifted away for the referee to signal for halftime, the unbelievable happened as Clinton Jephta got a through pass from Akintunde Azeez and shot from a close range to make it 3-0 before the halftime whistle.
On resumption for the remaining half, the coach of the Benin Arsenals Greg Ikhenoba made quick substitutions with Stanley Okorom and Meyinwa Oritseweyinmi replacing Efe Enabulele and Zaidu Ayuba respectively. The substitution raised the standard of play as Insurance pushed the visitors back to their gate.
Still dissatisfied with his team upfront, Coach Ikhenoba pulled out Sarki Ismael and Sodje Stephens for Chukwudi Meze and Stephen Eghoghon in the 65th minute and later introduced Vincent Okeke in the place of Chisom Okereke.
Insurance continued to mount pressure on the visitors in search of a goal and possibly a comeback leveller which the Ikon Allah boys who were already comfortable with their first-half goals resisted until Chukwudi Meze got the consolation goal in the 82nd minute.
The Benin Arsenals hope to bounce back with the availability of Sunday Anyanwu and Joel Djong to fix their depleted defence lineup when they visit Kwara Utd in the Matchday 29 revised fixture in Ilorin on Sunday.
