Abdulazeez Abdulwahab
IT was a mixed fortune for two Nigerian clubs in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup as Rivers United FC advanced to the group stage while its counterpart in the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL), Bendel Insurance bid farewell to the competition.
In Port Harcourt, the Pride Of Rivers (as Rivers United is fondly called) recorded a 2-0 victory against Etoile Filante of Burkina Faso on Sunday night.
Rivers United had held their opponent to a goalless draw in the first leg of the tie a fortnight ago, hence won the round 2-0 on aggregate.
The former Nigerian champions missed two penalties in the keenly contested encounter, but Alex Oyowah opened the scoring a minute from time before converting from the spot deep into stoppage time.
The Rivers State government-owned club are the only Nigerian club, that made it to the group stage of a continental competition this season.
Recall that they made it to the quarter-final stage of the competition last season.
Stanley Eguma’s side will look to make history as the first Nigerian club to win the CAF Confederation Cup.
Meanwhile, it was all gloom for Bendel Insurance as they succumbed to a 0-1 defeat in the hands of the competition’s defending champions, RS Berkane of Morocco on Friday.
The lone goal of the game was scored two minutes before halftime with the efforts of Nigeria’s representatives to level up hitting the brick walls.
The Moroccan side had pulled a 2-2 draw in Benin on 19 September when they visited Nigeria for the first leg encounter.
Reacting to the defeat, Coach Monday Odigie of Bendel Insurance said his side were unlucky to have missed the two chances to go up in the first half.
Odigie said: “We all saw the game. It’s just one chance and it was a goal. That is the game of football.
“If we had taken our chances in the first half, it would have been two goals up before their goal.
“RS Berkane has a history and Bendel Insurance too has a history, but for a long time, Bendel Insurance has not played at this level.”
Eighteen-Eleven Media