...Remo, Delta clash for third place

By Tolu Oguntimehin

In a thrilling display of skillful and classical football, Edo Queens FC, on Monday, outshone Ogun-based Remo Star Ladies with a resounding 3-0 victory to secure their place in the final of the third edition of the Betsy Obaseki Women’s Football Tournament (BOWFT).

 

The 90-minute action-packed match was played at the Western Boys Mini-Stadium in Ikpoba-Okha LGA of Edo State, amid a roaring crowd of supporters who had thronged the stadium in droves.

 

Goodness Osigiwe, with her exceptional playing skills netted two goals for Edo Queens while Suliyat Abideen added one more goal to secure the team's place in the finals.

 

Even though Remo Star Ladies fought valiantly throughout the match, they were unable to breach Edo Queens’ resolute defense and were left searching for that elusive goal for the entire 90 minutes.

 

The team will battle Bayelsa Queens in the final of the competition, scheduled for Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at the magnificent Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, in Benin City.

 

Bayelsa Queens had in a nail-biting penalty shootout secured their spot in the finals of the preseason women’s football tournament by defeating Delta Queens 5-4.

 

The intense match saw both teams locked in a goalless draw after the regulation 90 minutes, necessitating a penalty shootout to decide the winner.

 

The teams are battling for the N60 million aggregate prize for the 2023 edition of the Betsy Obaseki Women’s Football Tournament (BOWFT).  The winner of the tournament is expected to go home with N7 million naira, while the second, third and fourth positions will bag N5 million, N3 million naira, and N1.5 million respectively. The other nine participating teams will get N750,000 each, among other consolation prizes.

 

The BOWFT is an initiative of Mrs. Betsy Obaseki in collaboration with private sector partners to groom and empower the girl-child and engender grassroots sports development in Edo State and Nigeria while promoting causes that raise awareness about and discourage social vices.

 

In its third edition, the 2023 Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament with the theme, “End Gender-Based Violence,” is taking place in Benin City, the Edo State capital, between Monday, 23rd of October and Wednesday 1st of November, 2023.

 

This year’s edition is targeted at raising awareness and generating public interest in the need to eradicate gender-based violence in all its forms and spotlight the efforts undertaken by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led State Government over the past seven years to combat gender-based violence in the State.