The ABH Female Football League was held on Saturday, 7th December 2024, with Team B going home with the trophy. In its second year, the three-match tournament featured some of the best talent from UI and UCH, battling it out on the Alexander Brown Hall five-aside pitch. Read on for a recap of the matches.
Team C vs Team B
The League began with gusto, with the opening match between Team C and Team B. It was officially slated for 7:30 but began at 8:45 after some minutes of intensive warm-up sessions.
It didn’t take long after kick-off for Team B’s Chidinma to register the first goal of the game, the result of a cutback from her teammate following a great run of attack. Chidinma was always at the head of the show with great attacking play from her team. Shortly after, Team B’s goalkeeper, Eunice, was called to action and made a great save to prevent an equaliser by their tenacious opponents. The reverse occurred in two minutes as Team B came closer to making it a second with a series of attacks down the flanks. C responded with a tame shot on target, saved by Eunice.
Close to the end of the first half, Chidinma was subbed off for Bolu whose impact was felt immediately. She combined beautifully with Captain, Ope, deftly passing and dribbling, and almost resulting in a second goal for B. However, her shots kept going wide of the post. The first half soon ended, with B in the lead.
The second half began with dominance from the C frontline. But again, they failed to find the net, and their wastefulness in front of goal eventually cost them. Ope, leading a counter, dribbled and sent it back for a tap-in by Bolu, who finally had her first goal.
In what might have been a move to preserve B’s clean sheet, Bolu was subbed out to make way for a defender. Still, this barely slowed them down as Ope, once again, came hard at the C backline. A pass from her, into the box, was poorly cleared and resulted in an own-goal. This proved to be the last meaningful action of the game; B, the winners, with Ope as the incontestable player of the match.
Team B vs Team A
The second match of the day kicked off shortly after. In the first few minutes, it appeared to be quite balanced as both sides tried to find their rhythm. Team A appeared quicker to the task, with the advantage of a fresher set of legs on the pitch.
However, in the last five minutes of the game, Team B came alive. The duo of Ope and Bolu posed multiple threats in their opponent’s half. They were almost made to rue their misses – three shots on target – as A launched a wave of attack in the dying minutes of the first half. To their relief, the central defender was up to the task, making multiple clearances. Nil-nil was how it stood when the whistle was blown for half-time.
In the second half, Chidinma came on for Team B. Her partnership with Bolu, upfront, was delightful, but still not enough to break their opponent’s defence. It would eventually take a set-piece to break the deadlock. Ope calmly slotted in her short-range freekick to seal the game; 1:0 in favour of Team B, and a guarantee as League winners with 6 points from 6.
Team A vs Team C
The final match of the day was mostly uneventful. Both sides came in blazing, battling it out for the second spot on the table with Team A ahead on goal difference (-1 to C’S -3). But all of this energy soon fizzled out after a hard-fought goal from A’s Habeebah. The rest of the first half was a passive affair with both sides turning the ball over one too many times.
Team C tried to get back into the game with some great long-range efforts in the second half but had the ill luck of a resilient A defence to deal with. The game soon got scrappy, limbs launched in dangerous challenges, with a player for C sustaining a little cut to the head. By the end of the match, the scores stayed the same, with Team A walking away as second on the table with 3 points, ahead of C with 0 points.
Speaking with the Press after the game, Victoria, Coach of League Champions, Team B, said, “I’m absolutely happy with my team’s performance today! They showed passion and were united, which ultimately led to our victory. As a coach, there’s no better feeling than seeing your team execute the game plan with precision and heart. My coaching debut was a success and I’m honoured it was with such a talented group of players. I want to thank Possible and Promise for being there to assist when I called”.
Muhammad Oluwatimilehin
