By Ajibade Abdullah Adewale
The Freshmen football team of the Faculty of Arts has proceeded to the knockout stage of the Great Ife Freshmen Sports Fiesta after defeating its counterpart from the Faculty of Administration (3:2) in the opening match which took place on Friday, Nov 25, 2022, at Main Bowl, Obafemi Awolowo University.
The match was a quality display from both sides as it had the attention of spectators accompanied with eagerness to catch every moment.
12 minutes into the first half, Samuel Akingbade opened the score line for the Faculty of Arts after which, in the twenty-second minute, Emmanuel Hussein took advantage of the error of the faculty of Admin’s Goal Keeper to double the lead. A dominant first half saw the team go into the break with a deserved 2-0 lead.
The second half started on a high note for the Faculty of Admin. team, as they were able to secure a penalty which was scored by Damilare Popoola. The team maintained a high tempo and it paid off 6 minutes after when the keeper failed to save Damilare's long-range shot putting them on the level. This raised the tension of the faculty of arts team while the hope of the football team of the faculty of Admin. has been restored.
Meanwhile, substitutions from the Faculty of Arts was a spur to have the team back to dominate again. Amid their domination, numerous chances were not converted until 70 minutes when Amigo Isreal put them ahead to make 3:2 and have the Faculty of Admin. Crashed out of the tournament.
Speaking on behalf of the Vice Chancellor in his opening remark, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (admin) Prof. Daramola, welcomed the players and the spectators. He appreciated the organisers for the courage to come up with the first-of-its-kind Sports Fiesta for Freshmen after which he went ahead to kick off the match.
Expressing his excitement after the victory, the coach of the Faculty of Arts Freshmen team, Victor Oloyede confirmed that although the match was not an easy one, it is a great thing that his team won.
He further said: “We played really well but in the second half we discovered there were some lapses that we needed to work on. When we made some substitutions, the game changed and we were able to win the game.”
The Director of Sports of the Students’ Union, Oluwanoni Ayotunde, noted that the idea behind the Great Ife Freshmen Sports Fiesta is to introduce fresh students to the sports culture of OAU and create a chance for them to showcase their talents.
While confirming that other sports activities like Chess and Scrabble competitions will be starting on the 28 of November, he mentioned that athletes will also start on the 30th, of November 2022. Ayotunde declared that the Sports Fiesta is for both male and female fresh students and that the final will take place on the 9th of December, 2022.
Also present are, the Dean of, the Division of Students’ Affairs; Prof Aransi, the Chairman of the Sports Council, the Director of Sports of the university and members of the Central Executive Council of the Students’ Union.
This is great!
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