Royal Eagles FC v Dragons AFC
Score: Royal Eagles FC (0) – (7) Dragons AFC
Scorers
Dragons AFC (Daniel Fatoye 22’; Kionley 35’; Sachin R (OG) 36’; Colline D 45’, 47’; Harish E (OG) 50’; Innocent D 51’)
Dragons ended the season on a high note after defeating Royal Eagles in a convincing manner. Dragons were coming into this game having lost both their previous encounters, which overshadowed their 5-game unbeaten streak in the middle of the season. However, picking up this win means they finish in the top 5 in the table.
Royal Eagles started the game well albeit a largely changed squad and held off the Dragons attack for most of the first quarter. However, Dragons found a way through and there was no looking back after that.
Man of the Match Daniel Fatoye scored the opener in the 22nd minute and Dragons took a slender lead into halftime. The second half was a one way street with Dragons doubling their lead in the 35th minute before an own goal from Sachin a minute later saw them go up 3-0 with more than 20 minutes left in the half.
The goals kept flowing in and Colline added a quickfire brace before another own goal and a strike by Innocent made it 7-0 by the 51st minute.
Royal Eagles have a serious off-season overhaul on their hands if they are to make a bigger impact next season. Dragons also have a lot of thinking to do with rumours persisting of breaking up of the team.
Dragons should aim to keep the core of their squad, which made for a largely interesting second half to the season given that they held Simba to a draw and opened up the title race.
Man of the Match: Daniel Fatoye (Dragons AFC)
Simba Sports FC v Bangalore City FC B
Score: Simba Sports FC (1) – (1) Bangalore City FC B
Scorers
Simba Sports FC (Zuvundru Victor 24’)
Bangalore City FC B (Udith Ash 30’)
The match of the season didn’t disappoint as Simba Sports FC and Bangalore City FC B played out a high intensity affair that eventually ended in a draw. Simba went into the game with a one-point lead over their title rivals, which meant a draw would suffice.
Before the match, fans from both sides arrived in big number to support their team and the environment had a festive nature about it with singing and vuvuzelas making up a large part of the noise in the stands.
BCFC started the stronger of the two sides and knowing only a win will help them achieve the title triumph, they came out all guns blazing. Simba’s manager Joe Lubala probably expected that as much and set up a defensive formation which looked like a 5-3-2 more than a 3-5-2.
The change ins strategy helped them hold off BCFC in the first quarter of the game before they launched attacks on the counter. Pembele Kapunga led the defence line extremely well and was largely responsible for holding off Papi Keita and Worthem B.
Once Simba got into the game, Bruce Mabengo got into the flow of things and started controlling play in midfield. Zuvundru Victor scored the opener in the 24th minute but BCFC immediately responded and scored just before half-time to level the scores.
The second half started with the same intensity as the first half and when the rain started pouring down the atmosphere got even more intense. BCFC only had one thing in mind but Simba had enough in their defence to hold off their opponents and settle for a 1-1 draw.
Both teams are now promoted to Division 3, so we expect this to be a start of a long and great rivalry.
Man of the Match: Pembele Kapunga (Simba Sports FC)
The Aces v Brothers United
Score: The Aces (3) – (2) Brothers United
Scorers
The Aces (Raywanth Koushik 3’; Devanshu Sharma 27’; Raywanth Koushik 51’)
Brothers United (Praveen B 41’, 47’)
The Aces ended the season with a win in a thrilling 5-goal encounter against Brothers United in heavy rainfall. Such was the downpour that the entire game had to be played under rain with no respite in the weather conditions. Aces got on the score sheet early in the game when Raywanth Koushik opened the scoring in the 3rd minute.
The Aces doubled their lead just before half-time via their top scorer Devanshu Sharma who lost his form earlier. Brothers got back into the game in the second half and had a go at their opponents.
Praveen P ended up scoring a 6-minute brace to level things up with less than 15 minutes to go but Aces had just enough in them to pull off a winner. Raywanth Koushik scored the winner in the 51st minute to hand Aces all three points.
Koushik led the line well and earned the man of the match plaudits for his commanding performance as a forward. Both teams have had roller coaster seasons and have not been able to pick up any momentum but once some few key areas are addressed in the off season they should be back with a bang.
Man of the Match: Raywanth Koushik (The Aces)
