Football action at the Bankers' Games
Skye Bank began their defence of the Bankers Games football title on a flying start with a 1-0 defeat of a resilient Stanbic-IBTC on the opening day of the 2012 Nigeria Bankers Games (NBG).
The official opening match came on the heels of a novelty All-stars match and a parade of colours by the participating teams in a ceremonial march past at the University of Lagos Sports Complex on Sunday.
Industry chiefs including the Managing Director of Clearline Medical Insurers, Mr. Segun Ogundimu, Mr. Emeka Onodiugo of Chi Pharma and Barbara Harper of First Bank were on hand to witness the ceremony which was kicked-off with a match between the Insurance All-Stars and the Telecom-All Stars.
The Insurance-All Stars were the surprise 2-1 winners of the tie with goals from Thompson Friday of Union Assurance while Yusuf Abubakar nicked the consolatory goal for Telecoms All-Stars from the penalty spot.
Skye Bank’s quest to establish dominance in the opening game of the tournament met a steely resistance from a determined Stanbic-IBTC until late into the game when Alex Ude turned in an own goal off a Samaila Sanni cross with just two minutes left to play. For his efforts and daring saves, Stanbic-IBTC’s goalkeeper, Azeez Owolewa was voted the Most Valuable Player of the game.
In the second match of the day, last year’s runners-up, Fidelity Bank failed to pry open a well knitted Sterling Bank’s defence in a match that they played without their two illustrious members of the Corporate Hall of Fame, Theo Amadi and Kayode Agbalaja. The match ended 0-0 with Fidelity Bank’s Olaolu Aloo voted the Most Valuable Player.
Three of the seven nominees for the Corporate Hall of Fame were unveiled following their selection by the members who voted in a secret ballot.
The new entrants are a Deputy Manager, Corporate with Fidelity bank, Agbalaja Kayode, a senior banking officer with Skye Bank, Rotimi Saka, and the Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Relations of UBA, Emeka Udegbulem. The tournament continues this Saturday.