MOLATsportgist

From Osun Babes crashing defending Champions Bayelsa Queens out of competition to FC Robo Queens scoring six(6) goals against Prince Kazeem Eletu Queens, to non-league side Lakeside Queens holding Nasarawa Amazons till the last minute of the game, it has been a tournament to savour for.

The Flying Officers Cup is a special tournament, often offering women football fans and players the highest highs they can ever imagine.

After a week of non-stop football activities, it has all come down to eight (8) teams qualifying for the quartefinals. Naija Ratels, Osun Babes, FC Robo Queens, Nasarawa Amazons, Edo Queens, Confluence Queens, Royal Queens and Sunshine Queens. Here are some of the statistics that have illuminated the tournament so far in the first round.

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• (4) No of teams that have participated in the last every edition of the Flying Officers Cup (Nasarawa Amazons, Edo Queens, Honey Badgers, Naija Ratels).

• (16) No of teams participating in the 2021 Edition

• (24) The number of games played so far in the first round.

• (18) No of wins recorded in the first round of games.

• (5) No of draws in the first round of games.

• (54) Number of goals scored so far. The highest number ever recorded in the first round of games of the Flying Officers Cup.

• (1) Just one Hat-trick so far in the first round, scored by Emem Essien of Edo Queens against Lakeside Queens.

(2) No of braces scored. Juliet Sunday of Bayelsa Queens against Prince Kazeem Eletu and Ibinabo Georgewill’ against WACO Ladies FC.

• (20) Number of clean-sheets recorded by Goalkeepers in the first round of games.

• (3) Own goals recorded in the first round. (Ayo Anifowoshe Prince Kazeem Eletu Queens Vs Bayelsa Queens) • (Jimoh Ajoke, Prince Kazeem Eletu Queens Vs FC Robo Queens) • (Ambali Sekinat, Lakeside Queens Vs Nasarawa Amazons).

• (2) Two teams yet to concede, Edo Queens and Confluence Queens.

• (3) Ghana Police Ladies, team with the highest number of draws in first round.

• (9) Highest number of goals scored by team in the first round (Confluence Queens)..

• (2) Edo Queens and Confluence Queens are the only teams to win all all their three matches in the group stages.

• (1) Mercy Omokwu of Confluence Queens scored the fastest goal of the first round. Her goal was scored in the first minute against SGH Sports Academy Amazons.

• (6) Bayelsa Queens 6-0 win over Prince Kazeem Eletu Queens, was the biggest margin of victory seen in the first round.

Sunshine Queen’s head coach, Tayo Onilude says she feels ‘very positive’ about their quarter-final clash with Edo Queens on Tuesday.

Sunshine Queens qualified to the next round of the Flying Officers Cup on Saturday, after defeating SGH Sports Academy Amazons by a lone goal. The ‘Betty Babes’ recorded two victories (against Waco Ladies and SGH Sports Academy) and one loss against Confluence Queens in the group stages, scoring two and conceding one in the process.

Coach Onilude, who took over the realms of affair at the Akure-based side four months ago is optimistic that her team will do well against Edo Queens, despite not being the favourite in the encounter.

”When you are in this kind of Competition and you get to this stage, you don’t want to look back. You just want to keep going.

”It is true that I’m building a new team from the scratch, but it doesn’t stop us from competing. We want to keep going and growing as a team.

”I feel very positive about this encounter and trust my players to lift their games, even though people think we are not the favourite for this encounter.

“We haven’t been taking our chances too, we need to learn how not to lose chances. The more chances we convert, the better for us as we move higher in the Flying Officers Cup.

“Our opponents have good and experienced players, and that’s one thing we need to be wary of. We believe in ourselves and we are very hopeful.” She concluded.

Sunshine Queens are participating for the first time at the Flying Officers Cup and will face Edo Queens in the quarterfinals of the Flying Officers Cup on Tuesday by 1pm.

Organisers of the 2021 Flying Officers, Ratels Sports Development Foundation, charged participants at the tournament to be conscious of the well being, both on and off the pitch.

The lecture which focused on basic fundamental principles in the area of injury prevention, sports rehabilitation, performance optimization came on the backdrop of two fatal injuries that occured on Matchday five, between WACO Ladies and SGH Sports Academy Amazons.

Renowned Orthopedic Surgeon and immediate Chief Medical Director of Maitama General Hospital, Dr Ahmed Suleiman, who was the resource person for the seminar, urged players to protect themselves and be self conscious whenever they are on the pitch of play.

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The sports medicine expert further advised players on how to attend to injuries when the case arises.

“As a player, if you are injured, don’t get carried away that the injury would signify the end of your career, go to a definitive centre and get the best of treatment for yourself.

The former NFF Chief Medical Director also lectured the players and officials on how to live a healthy life, as well as first aid treatment that players can adopt before the arrival of the medical team in the case of Denmark captain, Christian Eriksson.

“The fact that you want to win at all times does not mean you should be careless about football. When you want to head the ball, you have to be sure that it is safe. When you want to chest your ball, you have to be sure that you are safe. Make sure that you play safely. These are self precautions. Rough tackles is one of our biggest challenges. If you hit my pelvis, it might destroy my abductor muscle. If you hit my knee, you are destroying my harmstring, Anterior Cruciate Ligament, Posterior Cruciate Ligament, and Meniscal injuries. If you tackle my ankle anyhow, you are fracturing my tibia, small bones of the leg and so on. The bones, ligaments and muscles go together. Anything that injures one, injures others. Players have to be as careful as possible.

“As far as sports is concerned, the goalkeepers put on gloves so that when the shot is too hard, they guide the ball without fracturing the fingers and bones of the hand. We use to have soft knee braces so that when the knee is attacked, it reduces the injury. The boot protects the ankle. The basics is when a player is down in football due to contact, the nearest player should be the doctor immediately.

“Find out whether the player is still breathing, bleeding and the rest to avoid escalation of injuries. It is called ABCD. A for the airway especially if the tongue is behind, you will have to put your hand so that the player won’t die. B is for breathing to be sure if the chest is moving or not.”

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In his own part, President of Ratels Sports Development Foundation, Barrister Paul Edeh thanked Dr Ahmed Suleiman for finding time out of his very busy schedule to come lecture the players and officials of all 16 participating teams in the Flying Officers Cup on how to live a good life as an athlete, noting that, it has become necessary that there should an active collaboration of efforts by everyone involved in the competition to ensure that players are safe and that the Foundation will continue to work hard to see that players are more educated on the need to be safe both on and off the pitch.

He also stated that footballers and officials need information on nutrition that can make them healthy and also the kind of treatment they need to observe in case of injury and other things.

After putting up stellar performances which did not only earned them quarterfinals slot at the ongoing Flying Officers Cup in Abuja, Confluence Queens also hold hundred percent record in the tournament with three wins from three games, the Coach, Esther Michael has attributed the form to understanding of purpose.

Speaking on Saturday afternoon, after their match against WACO Ladies, the friendly speaking Coach said she’s excited and on top of the world that the team is working perfectly to their target

“I feel excited because that was my dream before we came around.”

Confluence Queens is one of the highest scoring side with 9 goals and none conceded yet against SGH Ladies, Sunshine Queens and WACO Ladies.

Esther Michael while reacting to this feat said they had plans on ground from previous outings and the hard work is beginning to pay off.

“Even before we came for this tournament, we went to Edo, picked up one or two lessons there then we set a target, surely we are going to come victorious because even the last tournament, Confluence Queens player was the highest goals scorer, so we are fully focused on our target.”

On what their next move is going to be from the quarter finals stage, Esther said that, they hope to keep up with their good record in the competition and probably get to the final.

“By God’s grace, we are coming out all out to put up good performance and aim for the win.”

The Coach also revealed what they have in stock ahead of the coming NWFL Premiership season.

“One of our plans is not to just qualify for the Super 6, but to try a step further and win the Premiership.”

Confluence Queens crashed out of the first round of the 2020 Flying Officers Cup, but have already won their three group games in the ongoing 2021 edition.

Four more clubs qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2021 Flying Officers Cup after the conclusion of Group C and D games on Match Day 7.

In Group C, Sunshine Queens pipped SGH Academy 1-0 to make it to the quarter final. Maryam Aluko took advantage of an error from Owogbemi Kehinde to slot in the winning goal for Sunshine Queens in the seventh minute.

Confluence Queens thumped WACO Ladies FC 4-0 in the second Group C game of the day to qualify for the quarter-finals with an 100 percent record so far in the tournament.

Ibinabo Georgewill in the 29th minute scored the first goal of the game for Confluence Queens. The former Rivers Angels forward headed in a cross from Suliat Hassan to make it count for the New Direction Ladies.

In the second half, two quick goals from Arit Usang (58th minute) and Martha Peter (61st minute) extended Confluence Queens’ lead to three while Ibinabo Georgewill scored her second goal of the match in the 63rd minute to make it 4-0 in favour of the Lokoja based side.

Confluence Queens with nine points from three games finished top of Group C and qualify for the quarter final alongside Sunshine Queens (6 points) as SGH Academy (3 points) and WACO Ladies FC (0 point) bid the competition goodbye.

In Group D, Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership side Nasarawa Amazons had to endure a frustrating defensive display by Nationwide side, Lakeside Queens FC.

Lakeside Queens almost caused a major upset of the tournament but unfortunately, an own goal by Lakeside Queens goalkeeper and player of the match, Ambali Sekinat with the last kick of the game won the match for Nasarawa Amazons.

Edo Queens in the last game of the day earned a 3-0 win over Danaz Ladies FC to join Confluence Queens as the two clubs with perfect record so far in the tournament.

Chioma Olise in the 23rd minute tapped the ball into the net after Danaz Ladies goalkeeper failed to handle the ball well for Edo Queens first goal. The former Royal Queens player did well to give the Obaseki Ladies the lead.

Deborah Odiagbe in the 39th minute doubled the lead for the Obaseki Ladies with a header that came off a rebound from Danaz Ladies goal post while Rebecca Ajimuda made it 3-0 in the 51st minute with her second goal of the tournament.

Edo Queens finished at the top of Group D with a maximum of nine points from three games and completed the list of Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership clubs to qualify for the quarter final alongside Nasarawa Amazons (6 points) as Danaz Ladies FC (3 points) and Lakeside Queens FC (0 point) bowed out of the tournament.

In the quarterfinals fixtures on Monday, 18th October, Royal Queens and Osun Babes will play the first game by 10am, while FC Robo Queens and Naija Ratels FC will play by 1pm.

On tuesday, Confluence Queens and Nasarawa Amazons will Kick-Off by 10am, while Edo Queens and Sunshine Queens by 1am.

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Great victory for the Nerazzurre against Roma. Ajara Njoya’s lone goal made the difference.

The Nerazzurre start well immediately with a very high pressure and in the first minutes of play they collect several important opportunities. Roma responded with Thaisa from outside the box in the 10th minute, but Francesca Durante responded with a great save. At 19 minutes, Inter try to push with a personal play from Karchouni, but the result remains unchanged. The Giallorossi try from a corner kick, but Durante is still well positioned between the posts.

In the 58th minute, the Cameroonian forward came on for Bonetti and immediately made her impact felt. At 66 minutes, a great play by Ajara Njoya opens the field for Marinelli who tries from a distance, but Ceasar gets there.

Inter continued to push close to the goal in the 78th minute with Elisa Polli who heads to take advantage of a great play by Ajara Njoya from the left. The Cameroonian, however, found the net at 85 minutes using a one-two with Polli and piercing Ceasar’s net.

Bayelsa Queens who are last season’s Champions crashed out of this season’s tournament as four teams sealed qualification to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Flying Officers Cup after the conclusion of Group A and B games on Friday, October 15.

Royal Queens held Ghana Police Ladies FC to a 2-2 draw in the first game of the day.

Soroibe Chinanza gave the ‘Canadian Geese’ the lead through a header in the seventh minute. Three minutes later, Ruth Appiah equalised for the Ghana Police Ladies just the same way Soroibe Chinanza did for Royal Queens.

Ghana Police Ladies forward, Jane Ayieyam delivered a fantastic header to give the Ghanaian side the lead for the first time in the game before Ivoy Kolli was sent off for the Ghana Police Ladies late in the first half for her second bookable offences.

In the 62nd minute, Royal Queens FC’s incessant pressures paid off as Chika Idika restored parity for the Warri based side to make the score line 2-2.

Naija Ratels in the second game of the day defeated Honey Badgers 0-2.

As early as the second minutes of play, Olamide Adugbe converted a free kick from 25 yards to give Naija Ratels the lead. Sofiat Bankole scored her first goal of the tournament in the sixth minute to double Naija Ratels FC’s lead from a rebound.

The results means that Royal Queens finished top of Group A with five points from three games and qualified for the quarterfinals alongside Naija Ratels FC (4 points) while Ghana Police Ladies FC (3 points) and Honey Badgers FC (2 points) crashed out of the tournament.

In Group B, Osun Babes held defending Champions, Bayelsa Queens to a barren draw. The game in which Bayelsa Queens dominated possession ended in a 0-0 stalemate with the ‘Prosperity Ladies’ wasting lots of chances while Osun Babes goalkeeper, Nwachukwu Elizabeth was solid for the Omoluabi Queens emerging as the player of the match.

FC Robo Queens thrashed Prince Kazeem Eletu Queens FC 6-1 to finish top of Group B.

Rukayat Shobowale in the tenth minute open the goals galore for FC Robo Queens as she collected a pass from Ajakaye Opeyemi.

In the second half, FC Robo Queens scored five more goals to solidify their lead. Taiwo Lawal in the 53rd minute doubled FC Robo Queens’ lead while Shukurat Oladipupo made it three seven minutes later. Opeyemi Ajakaye after her previous assist found the back of the net for her new team in the 70th minute before Jimoh Ajoke’s own goal and Essien Marylene’s 81st minute strike completed the rout then Esther Adesoji earned a consolation goal from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.

FC Robo Queens with seven points from three games topped Group B and qualified for the quarterfinals alongside Osun Babes (5 points) as defending Champions, Bayelsa Queens and Prince Kazeem Eletu Queens crashed out of the tournament.

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Osun Babes Manager, Whyte Ogbonda has expressed satisfaction with his team, as they earn a berth in the quarter-finals of the 2021 Flying Officers Cup.

The ‘Omoluabi Queens’ played a goalless draw against Bayelsa Queens on Friday evening to book a spot in Quarter-Final of the biggest Women Football Pre-season Championship in Africa.

The former Ibom Angels Manager praised his players performance and tasked them to be more determined when they face Royal Queens in their next encounter.

‘The game against Bayelsa Queens was a great test and it really helped us as we continue to build a team for the new season.

“Truly, our preparation was not ideal before now, but I told my players before the match that it is very important that we go past the first round and qualify for the next round.

‘It was very tough out there and you could see that we needed to work together more because at times we were pushed beyond limits.

‘We are happy to be in the next round of this tournament and with more hard work, I believe we will get better as a team.”

Osun Babes will play in the quarter-finals against Royal Queens on Monday at the Area 10 Sports Complex, Abuja.