FCT FA Cup Final: Supreme Court Emerge Champions For The First Time, Pip Road Safety

By Niyi Busari Supreme Court Football Club on Sunday in Abuja defeated the defending champion, Federal Road Safety Corps FC 1- 0, in the final match of the 2018 FCT men’s AITEO Cup. Supreme Court was playing in the FCT FA Cup final for the first in the history of the club which they fortunately won. Though paraded a young but skillful team, Henry Haggai boys kept the spectators at the edge of their seats from the blast of the whistle as they dominated the final game. Having played three games in six days, FRSC FC looked tired as their team efforts to equalise was not enough to get them the much needed goal to bring the match into a penalty shootout. Road Safety had defeated Sporting Dream 2-1 in the Semi final while Supreme Court beat Rhapsody 3-2 to qualify for the final. The FCT FA final match played at the Area 3 playing ground saw dignitaries like the Director of Sports Department FCT, Chief Mrs. Dilichukwu Onyendinma, FCT FA chairman Alhaji Saheed Talle, NFF assistant Technical director, Mr Siji Lagunju among others gracing the occasion. Isaac Peter Mairabo of Supreme Court FC scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute when he took on three Road Safety defenders before unleashing a terrific shot from 20 yards which was deflected into the back of FRSC FC net. Speaking after the match, John Haggai, the head coach of Supreme Court FC, said he was happy that his team won. “They played well, we know the strength of our opponent what we needed was to score first. I thank God for answering our prayers. I know Road Safety inside out, they always push upward, so we played to curtail them and capitaluse on their weaknesses. “We thank God that our score was the only goal of the game, we will go back and prepare well for the national FA cup,” he said. On his part, coach of the FRSC FC, Akinade Onigbinde, said he lost the game to fatigue, having played a total of seven (2 leagues and 4 Aiteo cup matches) in just twelve days. “We lost the match by 1-0, I’m not happy about this defeat we will go and prepare for the national FA cup. “My Players were very tired because they played seven matches both the league and the AITEO Cup within two weeks. I cant blame the players. Some of the regular players are injured and could not play. “We did not have enough time to prepare for the final match, ” he said. BSN reports that 19 teams participated in 2018 FCT men’s AITEO Cup. The draw for the national AITEO Cup will be made by the NFF next week.