Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan, left it late to beat Bendel Insurance FC of Benin on Thursday.
Muritala Taiye broke the heart of the Benin Arsenal and their travelling supporters with a 90th minute header to send fans at the Lekan Salami Stadium into wild jubilation.
The Matchday 22 encounter was heading to a stalemate before the right back rose high to nod past goalkeeper Anas Obasogie in goal for Bendel Insurance.
Both sides tried in vain to break the deadlock but all their efforts yielded no dividend till the first half ended.
In the second half, the coach Gbenga Ogunbote tutored lads, appeared hungrie of the two sides for the maximum points as they took the game to their opponent but found the defense of Insurance too hard to break.
The introduction of Hadi Mohammed and Pyagbara Dumte added more bite to the 3SC attack.
With the clock winding down, Shooting Stars continued to raid the coach Monday Odigie’s side defense in search of a goal, but the Benin Arsenal backline remained resolute.
The homers got the well deserved goal on the dot of 90 minutes when Muritala Taiye headed home from close range after a lob into the opponent’s goal area resulted in a goal mouth scramble.
Insurance made sporadic efforts to level things up withing the five added minutes but the determined Shooting Stars held on till referee Tijani U. Majidadi brought proceedings to an end.
Shooting Stars’ will next face Gombe United in a Matchday 23 clash billed for the Pantami Stadium, Gombe.
