The Lagos State finals of the inaugural First Bank and Samuel Okwaraji Foundation-organised national secondary schools football competition has ended with Government College, Eric Moore emerging winners.
The champions defeated Ikeja Senior High School 3-1 in a rain soaked but very entertaining final match played on Friday.
The match was played at the Gbagada Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Gbagada, Lagos.
The victory gives them the ticket to represent Lagos State in the Zonal Championships, which will be the second phase of the nationwide tournament.
In Ogun State, Orile Ilugun High School needed penalties to defeat the Segun Odegbami International Academy 5-4 in an enthralling final match played at the Nawair ud Deen Grammar School Sports Stadium in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
In Oyo State, Bright Ville College defeated Bishop Phillips Academy 1-0 in the finals to emerge as the State representatives in the zonal championships expected to hold in Lagos.
The First Bank and Samuel Okwaraji Foundation in collaboration with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF) have now concluded the State Finals across the length and breadth of the country in line with the set objectives which is to provide a national platform for football talents in secondary schools to be discovered.
The competition is put together to honour the memory of the fallen Nigerian international football legend Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji who slumped and died on the pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on August 12, 1989 while playing for the Super Eagles in a 1990 World Cup qualifier against Angola.
