MBBS knocked out Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE) with a goal on Friday, 20th of October, in a match that ended prematurely due to pitch invasion.
What seems to be arguably the most anticipated match in Seals Cup 2023 kicked off at exactly 5:08 PM yesterday evening. It was a cloudy evening at the SUB pitch, UI filled with supporters from both departments and beyond. As expected, the first five minutes of the match was very intense with IPE players relentlessly throwing long aerial balls to locate their no. 10 (Kenneth) and MBBS players trying to handle the ball on the ground in the midfield. Possession at the 13th minute was 50% – 50% and both sides were playing their best to change the scoreline in their favour. MBBS were more threatening towards the twentieth minute of the first half, registering 2 shots off target – one from open play and the other from a set piece. Habeeb was giving the wing backs in IPE a very hard time in neutralising the threat. In the thirtieth minute, Dave got hold of a low through ball from the midfield, paced forward while trying to avoid being dispossessed and shot the ball to hit the right post. The ball rolled on the goal-line towards the left before IPE saved the ball. That was the last chance of the game before the half-time whistle was blown.
Both sides rested for ten minutes and the second half was underway at exactly 5:51 PM. In the first minute of the second-half, IPE won a freekick in a dangerous position but it went off target. Ola came on for Ayokunle in the 36th minute and not long after, IPE got a big chance which hit the crossbar and bounced on the line before it got cleared out by an MBBS defender. At that time, the atmosphere was very tense and both sides were desperately looking for that one chance to seal the game. In the next minute, Karbon got the ball close to the final third and struggled to keep it in his possession while running towards goal. He got dispossessed by two defenders but fought hard to regain the ball, and cut back to his right foot, before taking his shot into the bottom left corner of the net. When the stands saw the net shake and the referee pointed to the centre circle, everywhere became ecstatic as everyone ran from one end to the other celebrating the goal.
In the 44th minute, Mechanic came on for Gerald and two minutes later, Fu’aad came on for Dave. While a lot of people were oblivious of Mark Obeya’s plan, they believed and hoped that he was making the right decisions. In the 48th minute, Habeeb went down after suffering from a dangerous tackle from IPE. The coach subbed Ayotunde for Behemoth and Habeeb for Teslim. The scoreline went on until the 59th minute when Adeoluwa saved the ball from a dangerous position. After a corner kick against MBBS, the match got disrupted by a fan from IPE as he invaded the pitch to attack the referee.
In no time, the whole pitch was in disarray and people were wondering what could have happened. In some muffled dialogues that happened on the disorganized pitch, it was said that a handball happened after the corner-kick was taken and the referee didn’t acknowledge it. After so much back and forth, the head of the Seals Cup organising committee, Ayobami, declared the match ended and that MBBS had qualified to play in the semi-finals. Dissatisfactory comments from IPE fans flew everywhere while MBBS fans lifted Karbon, the goalscorer, and Obeya, the coach, in celebration of their qualification to the next round. The cloudy sky started pouring rain and students fled out to find some shade around Sultan Bello Hall, Faculty of Science, and other nearby buildings.
MBBS has now played 5 games in a row, won the 5, scored 10 goals in total, and has conceded none. They will face Political Science in the semi-finals on Monday, 23rd of October, On the other side of the knockout chart, Philosophy will face Computer Science to battle for a spot in the finals.
Peter Adeyemo.
