Notable Things That Happened in The Interhall Football Competition

Pelumi King

The UISU Interhall football competition started last week. So far, it has been exciting, pulsating, dramatic, nerve-racking and so on. If someone were to describe what happened in the UI SI interhall football competition so far, he or she would definitely write an epistle. There were a lot of interesting matches on display, hardly would you find anybody who came to watch the match say he did nit find any of the matches interesting. Even though, the normal longball UI brand of football was played. It was certainly exciting. What kicked off last week was the male football competition.
The female halls competition did not kick off last week because there are fewer female halls. Currently, there are 4 female halls registered for the competition as against the 8 male halls registered for the competition. This led the organisers to organise the female football in a semi final format. The interhall female competition is certainly kicking off on Wednesday.
Here are the notable things that has happened in the Interhall female football competition so far;
Comfortable Win for PG Hall
The PG Hall is a combination of the two Postgraduate halls; Abdusalam Abubakar hall and Tafewa Balewa hall. They were put together in order to complete the 8-team football tournament. They were paired against Mellanby hall. It was a pulsating and exciting match. The neutrals enjoyed the football put on display. PG hall comfortably won the game 2-0. They were one of the only 2 teams out of the 8 teams in the competition that kept a clean sheet in the competition. They were the only team that scored 2 and did not concede a single goal. They certainly showed that they are a team to beat in the competition in their comfortable win over Kenneth Mellanby Hall.

Lord Tedder Hall Getting One Over Alexander Brown Hall
Lord Tedder Hall got cracking as they piped Alexander Brown Hall. It was an early goal. Tedder scored an early goal that Alexander Brown Hall could not really recover from. They also kept a clean sheet. What made Lord Tedder Hall stand apart is their defensive shape, presence of focus and concentration. Even though they scored an early goal, they managed to keep their defensive shape and maintain their focus and concentration to win the match 1 goal to 0. Their job was made even more difficult when the heavy rain began but they still finished well.

Zik Hall Narrow Win Over Kuti Hall
This was perhaps the most intriguing match last week. It was both interesting both on and off the pitch. Before the match, Zikites showed their vocal support for the team by coming out gun blazing with their trumpets and their musical sounds. These went a long way in spurring the Nnamdi Azikwe hall as they eventually won the game 2goals to 1.
They also taunted the Ransome Kuti Hall team by conducting a mock like burial. They had a cupboard which was made to look like a coffin. In it was the inscription “Here in lies the remains of Kuti hall”. Ransome Kuti hall did not let it affect them as they delivered a befitting performance even though they narrowly lost to Nnamdi Azikwe hall. They hit woodwork twice. However, it was all joy for the Zikites when the final whistle was blown.

Sultan Bello’s Shock Win Over the Great Independence Hall
It was the shocker game last week and perhaps will be the “overall” shock of tournament. Katangites also came out gun blazing in their support of the Great Independence Hall. That however sadly was not enough as the Sultan Bello Hall came out shock winners over the Great Independence Hall. The game began rather slowly as both teams started rather cautiously. They played quite a number of long balls. However, the game sparked to life when Sultan Bello Hall took a rather shock lead via their number 9 when he turned in a beautiful cross from the right-hand side flank from the No 7. Independence hall equalised soon after a diving low header was turned in by their striker. Shortly, after that goal, Bello Hall took advantage of the lapses in the right-hand flank of the post. A beautiful was played to the No 7 via the right-hand side. The No 7 took advantage of his speed to get into the right position to deliver a beautiful cross which the keeper could not handle. The cross found its way to the striker who slotted the ball home. That was the last goal of the game as Sultan Bello went defensive. They did not allow Independence hall’s attack to have a free flow in their area. They kept their strong defensive shape to pull off a shock win over the Great Independence Hall to advance into the semi finals of the competition. It was really a moment to enjoy for them and their fans.

The first round of the Inter Hall football competition delivered all that it promised to deliver. Excitement, drama, good football, Nervy moments. It delivered everything. It had everything. All the teams gave everything. No single team gave a poor performance. They showed the hunger, passion and desire to win; the losing teams included. Many neutrals, fans and well-wishers alike would be looking forward to the next round of matches. It will be definitely better than the first