THE REMITA CORPORATE CHAMPIONS CUP 2015 ENDS WITH FANFARE

The 2015 Remita Corporate Champions Cup ended with so much fun and fanfare on Sunday 24^th May, 2015 at the Campos mini Stadium, Lagos.

It was a glorious day for the FMCG Teams as both representatives of the sector ended in the top 3.

In attendance were dignitaries from the Sponsors, the Organizers and participating companies.

They include: Mr. John Obaro, MD SystemSpecs, Mr. Deremi Atanda, ED SystemSpecs, Mr. Fela Bank-Olemoh, CEO of MediaVision Limited, Prince Peter Rufai, Tournament Ambassador and the Head, Human Resources of Nestle, Mr. Shola Akinyosoye.

 

The finals ceremony was kicked off with a novelty match between the Sponsors of the tournament, SystemSpecs and BUA Group. The match was a sign of what was to come. The Remita Eagles proved a hard nut to crack for the BUA Cement Boys. However, a Philip Nwosu solitary strike proved enough for BUA Group to win the game.

 

 

Then it was the turn of the kids to show what they were made of. They had a 5 a side novelty match. The match was full of running around as the very energetic kids ensured they had their share of the fun. Both the boys and girls paired up to play the kiddies novelty match

 

THIRD PLACE MATCH: UNILEVER VS LEADWAY ASSURANCE

The Remita Corporate Champions Cup battle for bronze was between Unilever, FMCG Games defending Champions and Leadway Assurance, the Nigeria Insurance Games defending Champions.

Unilever had narrowly lost to Nestle by 2 1 in the semi – finals while Leadway Assurance pushed the Nigeria Bankers Games Champions, UBA all the way to a penalty shootout where they eventually lost out.

However, the match turned out to be a one sided affair. After an initially balanced first 5 minutes of play, Unilever went on a goal scoring spree in both halves of the contest. Both Rotimi Egunwale and Tunde Oladeyo got a brace each while Ndukwu Udochukwu added gloss to the score line to win the third place match by 5 – 1. Dare Ajala scored what eventually turned out to be a consolatory goal for Leadway Assurance.

Unilever have won bronze in their first season in the Remita Corporate Champions Cup.

 

THE PETER RUFAI CHALLENGE

The biggest highlight of the finals ceremony was the Peter Rufai Challenge. Nigeria’s foremost Goalkeeper and Captain, Peter ‘Dodo Mayana’ Rufai was brought out of retirement to wear his famous gloves again.

This time for entertainment and Charity. Selected dignitaries were given the chance to play penalty kicks for the Ex – International and for every kick he saved, money would be donated to Charity.

The Legendary Goalkeeper proved that he was still on top of his game as he saved 4 out of the 8 penalty shoots that were taken. Dodo Mayana treated the gathered crowd of spectators to a glimpse of the man who stood between the sticks for Nigeria at Maroc 88, USA 94 amongst others.

 

THE FINALS: UBA VS NESTLE

Then the game that everybody was waiting for, the finals of the 2015 Remita Corporate Champions Cup, UBA vs Nestle.

To get to the finals, UBA, Nigeria Bankers Games defending Champions beat MTN in the quarterfinal and Leadway Assurance in the semifinals while Nestle beat Etisalat in the quarterfinals and Unilever in the semifinals.

Both teams had never met in the Corporate Nigeria Games.

It was fireworks from the blast of the whistle. The tension and anticipation on the field of play transcended to the spectators stand as supporters buoyed their players on.

It was a game of two halves, UBA drew first blood in the 18^th minute of the first half through Cyprian Onyekachi, and had the upper hand in the first half and could have fancied themselves scoring more.

In the second half, it was Nestle who took over control in search of an equalizer. And they got their just reward in the 20^th minute of the second half through Victor Edafe, their inspirational Captain.

The game then evened out as both sides tried to find a winning goal. Nestle did have the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out for a foul.

Again Nestle continued to push at the UBA defense, where Audu Samuel was doing a yeo man’s job. However, with a few minutes left on the clock, goal scorer Victor Edafe turned provider as he pulled in a lovely ball off of a corner kick for Abiodun Ayoola to bundle in after UBA Goalkeeper, Shola Thomas had spilled the initial effort.

UBA tried to rally to pull level, however their worst enemy was time which eventually ran out to spark wild jubilation in the Nestle camp.

Nestle are the Champion of Champions of the Remita Corporate Champions Cup 2015.