August 09, (THEWILL) – History was made on Sunday as the men’s and women’s teams from a single state in Nigeria, Bayelsa United and Bayelsa Queens, finished as winners of football titles in the country for the first time in the history of Nigeria’s Cup competitions.
Both state-run teams clinched the 2021 AITEO Cup competition in Benin City, Edo State in their respective competitions to write the names of their players and the clubs in the annals of football history in Nigeria.
On a rainy day of football, the teams locked horns with their opponents, all engaged in a fight to the finish for the last team standing to emerge victorious from the sodden pitch of grass. It was also raining goals from the 10 scored in open play, including seven scored via penalties.
Altogether, it made for an entertaining day of football for the dignitaries and spectators for a deserving return of the AITEO Cup after the fanfare of the competition was sorely missing last year when COVID-19 lockdowns forced the cancellation of the competition.
The men’s competition ended in penalty kicks and Bayelsa United outscored Nasarawa United 4-3 to separate themselves as winners after the final ended in a 2-2 stalemate.
For their efforts, the Bayelsa men side took home the princely sum of N25million while Nasarawa United were consoled with N10 million as runners up. There were prizes for Top Scorer, which Gafaar Olafimihan of 3SC won, and Most Valuable Player, which Nasarawa United goalkeeper Mohammed Galadima claimed.
As champions, Bayelsa United will represent Nigeria in next season’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation Cup with the responsibility of making the country proud by continuing their strong showing on the continent.
In the women’s competition, the Women’s Aiteo Cup went to Bayelsa Queens after they defeated favourites FC Robo Queens of Lagos 4-2. Their reward was a N10 million bounty while the runners up, Robo Queens added N5 million to their coffers.
Bayelsa Queens’ Mary Anjor was unstoppable in the competition and took home the women’s Top Scorer award while also claiming the Most Valuable Player award overall to illustrate how influential she was to their progress to the final and to their victory on Sunday.
The win made the Bayelsa Queens the 8th different team to win the Women’s FA Cup although it is the first Cup victory in their history. The remarkable progress they made all through was evident in the fact that they did not concede a single goal throughout until the two Robo Queens scored in the the 2021 AITEO Cup final.
In the AITEO Cup history, only Rivers Angels and Ibom Angels have reached the AITEO Cup final without conceding a goal. Bayelsa Queens now belong to that elite and small class.
As part of the dignitaries that witnessed the historical feat were Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Deputy Governors of Edo, Bayelsa, and Nasarawa States. Representing the sports administration, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and FIFA Council Member, was there with Ndiana Matthew, AITEO’s Head of Corporate Communications.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
