Remita Corporate Champions Cup Begins in Grand Style!

The setting was the Campos Stadium, Lagos Island on Sunday, May 10, 2015.

Dignitaries present at the opening ceremony included; The Managing Director of SystemSpecs, Mr. John Obaro; the Chief Executive Officer of MediaVision Limited, Mr. Fela Bank-Olemoh; Executive Director SystemSpecs, Mr. Aderemi Atanda; and the Tournament Ambassador and Ex – International, the Legendary Peter ‘Dodo-Mayana’ Rufai.

The day began with a Novelty Match between the Guinness All Star Team and the Dettol Boys of Reckitt Benckiser. It was a perfect start to a gathering of Corporate Champions as both teams served up an interesting match. At the end, the Dettol boys won by a lone goal.

 

UNILEVER VS SWIPHA

The first quarterfinal match of the Remita Corporate Champions Cup 2015 was between FMCG Giants Unilever and their Pharmaceutical counter parts, Swipha.

It was a nervy affair that saw the defending FMCG Champions battling hard to overcome the sheer determination and grit of Swipha. The game eventually ended in a goalless draw and had to be decided on penalties. The Close up boys held their nerves to steer through to the semi – finals winning 4 – 3 on Penalty shootout.

UBA VS MTN

It was then the turn of the heavy weights, the match of the day. UBA, defending Nigeria Bankers Games Champions lined up to take on MTN, Nigeria Telecoms Games Runners up. The match lived up to its billings as both teams went straight to business. UBA had Emeka Iwu and Cyprian Onyeka spearheading their attack, with the ever reliable Audu Samuel and Tijani Mojeed marshaling the defence. MTN relied on Alichie Iheukwumere to lead the attack while skipper Joseph Akpata took care of business from the rear.

The very exciting encounter came to life in the 17^th minute of the first half, when the gangling UBA defender, Audu Samuel, unmarked at the far post, brought a cross down with his chest and blasted a left footed shot past the MTN Goalie, Tony Iloh to hand UBA the lead. The MTN goalkeeper had to be alert  5 minutes later to deny Audu from scoring a brace.

As the second half wore down, UBA were content to pass the ball while running down the time. Despite MTN’s desperate bid to equalize, the game ended in a 1 nil win for UBA to hand them the second semi – final berth.

ETISALAT VS NESTLE

In a repeat of one of the semi – final matches of last season, Nigeria Telecoms Games Champions, Etisalat took on the Milo Boys of Nestle.

The match was arguably the most exciting game of the day. Last season, Etisalat beat Nestle to reach the finals, however, it was Nestle who came off the blocks firing. It was obvious that revenge was on their mind.

David Ore was in attack for Etisalat alongside Edore Eghwubare, while Promise Iche lead the line for the Milo Boys with Captain Victor Edafe pulling the strings in midfield. It was Promise Iche of Nestle who broke the deadlock in the 13^th Minute from close range and immediately doubled their lead in the 15^th minute after Etisalat failed to clear their lines.

However, Etisalat pulled one back immediately through Edore in the 16^th minute to leave the game 2 – 1 in the first half.

The second period was a half of missed chances, the biggest of which was the 22^nd minute goal line clearance by the Nestle defence. David Ore had gotten to the end of a through pass and lobbed the on rushing goalkeeper for what should have been a goal, only for the ball to be cleared off the line by Justin Oragbon.

The match ended 2 – 1 in favour of Nestle.

LEADWAY ASSURANCE VS ECOBANK

The final quarterfinal match was between Leadway Assurance, the Nigeria Insurance Games defending Champion and Ecobank, the second runners up of the Nigeria Bankers Games.

Both teams had a good season in 2014, while Leadway Assurance are making their second appearance at the tournament, Ecobank are appearing in the competition for the first time.

So it was Leadway then that made their experience count as they dictated play from the onset. They were rewarded in the 18th minute of play when Foloronsho Sesan curled in a fine freekick that slipped through the Ecobank defense wall and past the hapless Isah Kasim in goal to hand the Insurance giants the lead. The lead did not last long though as, Emmanuel Onwumene equalized for Ecobank after a goal mouth scramble.

The tempo of the game was upped in the second half as both teams searched for a win. It was however, Leadway Assurance through Dare Ajala who got the all-important goal with 5 minutes left to play to set up a tense finish. Ecobank surged forward in search of an equalizer, but the Leadway Assurance held firm to advance to the semi – finals.

The semi – final pairings is thus:

Semi – final 1	Unilever Vs Nestle
Semi – final 2	UBA Vs Leadway Assurance

The semi – finals will be played on Sunday 17^th May, 2015 at the Campos Stadium, Lagos Island by 2pm.