FIDELITY BANK ARE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS OF THE NIGERIA BANKERS GAMES!!!

The Nigeria Bankers Games 2015 finals featured 2 teams who were yet to taste victory at highest level in the football event and so it was expected that the Fidelity Bank v First Bank finals will be full of fireworks.

First Bank got to the finals without conceding a single goal while Fidelity Bank have scored more goals to get to the finals, so it was a battle between the meanest defense and the best attacking team.

The match lived up to its billing right from the blast of the whistle as the Fidelity Bank team got off the block fastest with a clear intention of scoring an early goal.

And so they did in the 2^nd minute. First Bank conceded a corner kick from the early pressure mounted by the Fidelity Bank attack and from the resultant corner it was Victor Jideonwu who rose highest to head the ball into Baron Ikpeogu’s goal to send the vociferous Fidelity Bank fans into wild jubilation.

First Bank who had earlier defeated Fidelity Bank in the group stage now had their work cut out for them as they tried to rally a response. However, the Fidelity Bank team continued to swarm the First Bank goal area with barrage after barrage of attacks. It took the heroics of First Bank’s defender and the eventual best defender of the tournament, Edward Oyewole to stop the onslaught.

The highly entertaining first half ended with Fidelity Bank on the ascendency and leading by the solitary goal.

At the resumption of play, First Bank seemed to have benefitted from some half time pep talk from their coach as they came into the second half with confidence and even dictated play in the early minutes of the half.

The game was quite balanced with spectators wondering if there would be an equalizer from First Bank or if Fidelity Bank would double their advantage.

And so it was that Fidelity Bank doubled their advantage through the boots of Victor Jideonwu who in combination with Kelechi Nwosu and Kazim Lamidi was causing all sorts of trouble for the duo of First Bank’s Samusideen and Edward.

Victor latched onto a through pass and turning towards goal put the ball between the legs of the onrushing Baron in goal for First Bank. The packed DBI Stadium erupted as the Fidelity Bank bench and supporters could feel the trophy in their grasp.

As the clock wound down there was still time for more drama as First Bank became desperate to get back into the game. Then Salisu Abubakar who hitherto was doing a yeoman’s job on the left flank for Fidelity Bank was given his marching orders for a reckless challenge. The tempo immediately swung First Bank’s way as they looked to press their numerical advantage.

First Bank were duly rewarded for their persistence as they pulled a goal back. Adeleke Odunsanya did a flying header off a corner kick to nod the ball into the roof of the net to set up a very tense final minutes. Now it was the turn of the First Bank supporters to jubilate.

Fidelity Bank got men behind the ball to starve off the First Bank flurry of attacks in search of the equalizer to take the game into extra time.

There was palpable tension as the assistant referee signaled 5 minutes of extra time to be played. First Bank felt there was still time to pull off a miraculous comeback while Fidelity Bank dug deep to close down the game.

As the final whistle sounded, the Fidelity Bank team literally erupted and ran onto the field in celebration of their first ever football gold. Fidelity Bank have thus become the first team to win the football gold as well as the Overall Championship.

The down cast First Bank team could not but wonder what could have been as they were consoled but commended for coming so close.

Immediately after the match, awards were presented to the most outstanding players during the tournament:

Standard Chartered Bank led by Hall of Famer, Funlola Oni won the Bronze medal. Here is how it finished in the NBG 2015 football event.