The UNN lions defeated their AAUA rivals 2-1, in their opening fixture of the Varsity Cup. The match was a lively encounter, with all three goals scored within the first thirty minutes. There were feisty moments as well and the referee had to reach into his pockets three times to caution the players and restore calm.
UNN, in their vibrant green jersey, got down to business quickly and went 1-nil up in three minutes. The goal was a product of a counter attack and the ball found its way to Chizie Henry who had only the AAUA goalkeeper between him and the goal. Chizie’s shot was well-taken and even though it initially appeared to be saved by the goalkeeper, the ball bounced into the back of net.
The AAUA lads were momentarily shaken and nearly conceded a second shortly after, when miscommunication between the AAUA goalkeeper and his defender inside the 18-yard box, left the ball at the mercy of a UNN players boots. As the ball went off-target, the AAUA players heaved a collective sigh of relief.
On the other end of the pitch, AAUA squandered a glorious opportunity to draw level. Adejorin Wisdom received the ball in the box, dribbled past the UNN goalkeeper and left him sprawled out on the pitch with grass in his mouth. Wisdom’s shot afterwards was however cleared off the line.
The UNN team were prone to conceding needless fouls one of which spawned the equalizer for AAUA in the 19th minute. The initial freekick rather tame and floated harmlessly into the box but the UNN goalkeeper decided against gathering the ball and instead push it into the path of Tolu Ajayi who fired home from close range to level proceedings.
Nevertheless, the AAUA goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his net only four minutes later. UNN knocked the ball forward playing beautiful football in the process. Once again, the ball found Chizie and he evaded the on-rushing AAUA goalkeeper to score his second of the game.
When the second half resumed, Chizie continued to hunt for his hat trick which remained elusive as three chances passed him by. First, he was denied by the goalkeeper despite being through on goal. On another occasion, his own teammate, Anene Emma, proved to be the stumbling block.
Emma opted to go for goal himself rather than pass to Chizie who was in a better goal-scoring position. Unfortunately, Emma could not score either. Finally, the AAUA goalkeeper produced two magnificent saves in quick succession to keep the scoreline respectable, when Chizie once again found himself in the box. And while Chizie held his head in astonishment, the spectators cheered approvingly for the AAUA goalkeeper.
In the final fifteen minutes, a couple of half-chances went begging as boths sides were unable to add to the scoreline. Eventually, the referee decided that he had seen enough and brought the match to an end. 2-1 it ended, in favour of the easterners.