The defending champions, Amagoro Comprehensive School, was defeated in the finals against Okuleu in the Clusters games for Junior Secondary Schools for Amagoro Cluster on Saturday at Amagoro Primary School.
Okuleu JSS got a narrow win against the host’s in a 1–0 victory, as the lonely goal was scored by Julius Ekwenye in the 17th minute of the first half.
Okuleu JSS secured the opportunity to represent the Amagoro zone next week, which will be held at the same venue.
Coach Jasmin Olita of Amagoro noted that their exit came as a surprise to the fans and players at large. He urged the players to remain focused, noting that all is not lost.
“The tactical mismatch caused burden, and the opponents had to defend full-time, and we bore the results, wishing the winners all the best,” Jasmin said.
On the other side, Oteba Joseph, the Okuleu coach, said the motivation from the fans and criticism from the opponents kept them going, and the early lead sealed it all.
“The opponents had downgraded us and thought it would be a walk-through, but tactically and in possession, we couldn’t beat them, so we utilised our chance,” Oteba said.
In other finals, Okuleu narrowly defeated Ikapolok 1-0 in soccer girls; in the semi’s, Okuleu defeated Kidek 2-0, while Okuleu punished Amagoro Junior 1-0.
In the volleyball boys’ finals, Kakoli thundered Ikapok 2 sets to 1, while in the girls final, Ikapolok won 2-1 against Osia, thus Kakoli and Ikapolok will be proceeding for boys and girls, respectively.
Amagoro Primary sails to the next level in netball girls after a 7-2 win against Osia, and in basketball, Amagoro 3-2 Osia for boys, and Ikapolok conceded 4-8 against Amagoro Primary for girls’ finals. Results having Amagoro primary sail in three of these events.
Either Okuleu wrote history by being crowned champions in both girls and boys’ soccer games for the first time, breaking the dominance of Amagoro Primary.
The chair of Amagoro Clusters, Benard Idewa, has applauded the school’s performances, as more records were broken during the day, and to him, it’s a competition and talent nurturing that is shown by schools.
“Many expected the same results and some schools crowned, which hasn’t happened, and this will be the trend as it has brought another level of competition and rivalry, which is good for us, and we are sure the best teams will represent us well at the next levels,” Idewa said.
Teams proceeding in boys are Okuleu, Kakoli, and Amagoro Primary in football, volleyball, and basketball, respectively.
In girls, Amagoro Primary, Okuleu, Ikapolok, and Amagoro Primary are teams proceeding in Netball, Soccer, Volleyball and Basketball respectively.
By Okodoi Joel
