LAGOS Under-12 football team on Tuesday exhibited traits of a real champion in its battle against host, Cross River State, for the gold medal at the ongoing Calabar 2011 National School Sports Festival. It was not an easy fight, but the Eko boys took the day by 5-4 penalties after normal and added time had ended 2-2.Even before the final, the odds were against the Lagos team as the home team drew thousands of supporters to the U. J. Esuene Stadium in its search for the football gold medal. But the Coach Idris Babatunde-tutored Lagos team was never intimidated as it netted two quick goals in the eighth and 15th minutes to silence the home fans.The tide, however, changed before the end of the first half with the home team scoring two quick successive goals to level the tally.After that, both sides tried as much as they could to outsmart each other but the game petered out without any more goals, forcing the tie to be decided by a penalty shootout.The Lagos team kept its nerves to score all its five kicks, while Cross River lost one of its own to surrender the title to the Lagos team at 5-4.Aside winning the trophy, the Lagos team also swept most of the awards with Segun Sanni, who netted five goals to emerge as the highest goal soccer, picked the golden boot while his goalie, Bassey Peter, was adjudged as the best goalkeeper of the competition.The victory also confirmed Lagos as Nigeria 's flagbearer at the 2012 Milo Under-13 African Championship scheduled to hold in Accra, Ghana in April 2012.An excited skipper of the Lagos team, Deji Oshodi told The Guardian after the game that he was happy guiding the team to success in Calabar.He said: 'It was not easy at all because we thought we could rap up the game in the first half but our defence went to sleep to concede two successive goals to surrender the lead,' Oshodi said.In his own reaction, a disappointed Cross River team handler, Paul Undelikwo, told The Guardian that luck was against his side having come from two goals down to level up with Lagos.'I didn't expect us to lose the match having come from two goals down to level up the game. I thought we should have beaten the Lagos team in the second half because we dominated the game. But I believe it is our fate, we have to accept it. We were more determined than our opponents, but they were lucky to run away with the victory,' he said.The coach, however, wished the Lagos side well in their quest to make the country proud at the Milo African Championship in Ghana, adding, 'but they need to work on their lapses if they hope to do well in Ghana.'To the skipper of the Cross River team, Evans Eno-Obong, it was painful losing in such manner having put up a good fight.'We pressurised them for a better part of the game because we were more determined. We thought we could increase the goals in the second half but they defended so much. I believe with what they did today, they can represent Nigeria very well in Ghana,' Eno-Obong said.
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