On Wednesday, September 16, on the wet turf of SUB, a combined Psychology/Sociology triumphed over a combined Mathematics/STE team by two goals to one to win the 2026 edition of the Survival Cup.
The final of the Survival Cup had previously been scheduled to take place on an earlier date but was postponed due to fixture clashes with other ongoing competitions on the SUB pitch. But finally on Wednesday, the two teams, together consisting of four departments: Mathematics/STE and Psychology/Sociology marched onto the pitch to show, with their feet, who truly deserves the silverware.
At about 4:44 PM, in the dull atmosphere punctuated with drizzle, the Survival Cup final initially slated for 4:00 PM kicked off with Psychology/Sociology making successive passes to one another, carrying the ball to their opponent’s box. A few blocks and tackles earned Mathematics/STE the ball back, and the players continued their play in the Psychology/Sociology half.
In the 10th minute, a Psychology/Sociology player sent a free kick directly from the midfield to a teammate’s head, who nodded it directly on target, but, yet again, Mathematics/STE cleared it. The breakthrough came a few minutes later though, as Ohunrere received a pass on the counter and blitzed towards the Mathematics/STE goal, and with a defender stumbling in his wake, kicked a low shot to deliver the first goal and give Psychology/Sociology the lead. But less than five minutes later, Mathematics/STE got an equaliser with a direct free-kick goal from Isco, and both teams went into full attacking mode again. At this time, the drizzle had turned into a heavy downpour of rain at the Old Football Pitch, SUB.
With the first-half at 1-1; the players went to rest while some spectators stepped onto the pitch to have a kick-about. The second half soon resumed and about eight minutes in, another dangerous free kick from Mathematics/STE put Psychology/Sociology backline in chaos, but the goalkeeper, moving at the right moment, cleared the pressure. Afterwards, Mathematics/STE got extremely energetic, and they continued to pile on the pressure on Psychology/Sociology.
Shaking off the pressure, Psychology/Sociology made a pass into their challenger’s box, another pass to Folawe, who was closest to the goalkeeper and, with just a tap-in, he netted the second goal for his team.
Mathematics/STE continued mounting their pressure to find a way back into the game. They won two consecutive corner kicks and a close free kick, which caused heightened anxiety and worry in the Psychology/Sociology camp, but in the end, they came to nothing and the score-line remained unchanged at full-time.
Psychology/Sociology were crowned champions of the 2026 edition of the Survival Cup, consigning Mathematics/STE to a silver medal.
Omoyemi Adeoye Abdulgafar.
