SPORT Cowrie RFC wins 7s President Cup
Cowrie RFC club at the weekend clinched the maiden edition of the President Cup Rugby 7s tournament by defeating Merlin RFC at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos.
The deadly combination of Onoru Jatto, Christian Ogar, Afiz Ayinla and Azeez Ladipo help the current South West Rugby league champion to decimate Merlin RFC of UK.
With bookmakers expecting a keenly contested game but Cowrie the fans wrong as Black stallions’ winger, Christian Ogar scored a try that 20 seconds into the game to open a 5 points against the Merlins who appeared to be struggling under the hot sun.
Ladipo Azeez piled on more pressure with a try before Ogar added 2 tries to earn the Most Valuable Player prize of the tournament.
Despite spirited effort of the UK based club, the game ended 48 points to 14 in favour of Cowrie RFC.
Captain of the winning side, Azeez Ladipo while speaking after the match said the victory was a sweet reward after about three months of training in preparation for the tournament.
Barewa RFC of Kaduna who narrowly lost to Cowrie in the semifinals was too strong for Racing RFC as they ran away by 7-0 score line in the third place match.
In the plate finals, Police RFC once again failed to live up to pre-tournament expectations as they were decimated by Panthers RFC by 19 points to 12.
In the shield category, Parakou RFC of Benin Republic defeated Delta RFC by 21 points to 17 while Gosar RFC went home with the competition’s Bowl.
The competition saw hundreds of rugby fans from UK, South Africa and all over Nigeria come with their spouses and children to grace the tournament. The Acting Director of Imo State Sports Council, Mr. Austin Tasie has expressed concern over the poor state of sports facilities at the state sports council.
Tasie said this yesterday at Dan Anyiam Sports Stadium in Owerri in his address at the reception for Imo indigenous athletes that represented Nigeria at the just concluded All African Games held in Congo Brazzaville.
He appealed to Governor Rochas Okorocha to urgently come to their aid by reactivating the dilapidated facilities for the interest of sports and sporting activities in the state.
Tasie commended the performance of Imo indigenes to the games, which according to him has necessitated in organizing the reception as a way of honouring and encouraging them for winning laurels for the country.
Speaking further, the director pledged that he would fully equip the athletes to make them for feature competition both in the country and beyond.
Tasie pointed out that out of the 34 sports associations in the state, only handball, judo, karate and power lifting participated in the last game.