Hydro FC have been crowned Champions of the first edition of the HF WORLD’s Exquisite Soccer Gala after a 2-1 win in the final played on Wednesday, right after Faka United was beaten in the third place match by Smarts FC.
The closing ceremony and the finals of the tourney happened at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeouta, FUNAAB Sports Center Ogun State, Nigeria on Wednesday and the third place match between the losing semi finalists, Smarts FC and Faka United first took centre stage in the morning.
Akintayo Akinyinka, YK, who was named the best player of the competition fired his side in front, capitalizing on a sloppy defense in the early exchange as Smarts FC established a lead, a reward for their dominance.
The lead was doubled few minutes later, when a Faka United defender handled a goal bound effort on the line and was given his marching orders. Villa Cruz, the player with the most goal contributions in the competition, registered his eight goal involvement from the spot to double Smarts FC lead and score his fifth goal, which took him level with Israel Salami.
Despite being a man down, Faka United grew into the game and enjoyed more of the possession thereon. They created a lot of clear cut chances but were not clinical enough in their finishings.
They did pull one back in the later stages of the game through a free-kick from Jay Jay and even after that were presented a glorious opportunity to restore parity but again could not apply the finish.
Smarts FC held on for Bronze with a 2-1 win, finishing the competition with 14 goals, more than any other side in the tourney.
The final took center stage right after and it was a dream start for Hydro FC, as they were awarded am early penalty after Israel Salami was brought down in the area.
The striker stepped up and converts from 12 yards for his sixth goal of the competition, taking him one above Villa Cruz of Smarts FC and becoming the outright top scorer in the competition.
Hydro FC dominated proceedings but could not add to their one goal lead till the end of the first half of the game.
However, in controversial fashion, Comrades FC restored parity midway through the second half as Lukaku’s run was adjudged offside by the linesman, but the VAR showed he was onside, while Ramos had put the ball into his own net under pressure.
The goal stood and it remained 1-1 heading into the last minute of injury time. The referee then awarded another penalty to Hydro FC, after spotting a push in the box even before the ball was sent into the box from a corner.
After much protest and agitation by the players, the referee’s decision stood and the penalty was taken by Jacob, not after De Javu was shown a second yellow card for complain.
It ended 2-1 to Hydro FC, who wins the competition’s maiden edition.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
