Temiloluwa Erinle

(A UNILAG Marine in action. Image Credit: UNILAG Communications Unit)
UNILAG’s male football team lost their first game of the FASU Games football tournament when they faced University for Development Studies (UDS), Ghana, who beat them by a goal to nothing. The game got kicked off at 2 pm, at UNILAG Sports Complex, yesterday, September 22.
The first half of the game saw UNILAG awarded a penalty, which was closely followed and saved by UDS’ goalkeeper. The half then developed into a goalless draw.
The second half soon began and progressively, the teams started to create some good chances. Early on in this half, a one-on-one chance favouring UDS sent the UNILAG fans to scare, but a quick rush by the goalkeeper kept the ball away from the post. The Marines had their own fair chances too, including a confident strike from outside that went just ahead of the woodwork.
But with time, both sides still trapped in deadlock, and with less than ten minutes left, the number 4 player of UDS took a surprise curve-ball into the top right corner of the goalpost that left the goalkeeper transfixed in the middle. It was a wonderful goal that stirred again an unsteady, already declining momentum.

(A UDS player makes a turn. Image Credit: UNILAG Communications Unit)
Bringing fresh substitutes would do nothing to steal any goal for the Marines. The referee soon blew the final call and that confirmed the defeat of UNILAG in their first game of the tournament.
“The intensity was high. We found it difficult to play in a different weather … the sun is scorching, but we managed,” Muhammed, the captain of UDS, told The Press Club his experience of the game.
But describing his winner, the goal-scorer told us: “It’s an amazing goal and I am very excited to score that goal. I saw the keeper come a little bit forward, so I said – let me try and see whether I could get the shot.”
“Disappointing, obviously, disappointing,” a Marine told us after the game. “Because I feel like we have a lot of expectations not just from our fans but from us hosting it. It’s left for us to go back, work harder and come back. No complaints.”
The next game of UNILAG Marines is unknown as of publication time.