By Paul Akhagbemhe
Mother luck refused to smile at the Gombe U-16 Boys team today in the ongoing 39th edition of Ramat Cup International football tournament.
Despite giving a good account of themselves, the Gombe Boys succumbed to pressure after playing 2-2 at regulation time.
Winning over the passionate fans through fantastic ball play, Gombe held their own but the Kano team proved equal to the task.
It was a pure exchange of fireworks with both teams scoring and the other responding. The beautiful and tension-soaked encounter ended in a penalty shootout.
The Kano team were almost out of the race after a penalty miss, but Gombe made things worse for themselves, also throwing away the advantage.The penalty kicks eventually ended 4-3 in favour of the hosts.
Ogun state U-16 Boys team were not twice lucky. After an energy sapping encounter that gave them 10-9 victory over Kaduna on Thursday, the Dapo Abiodun Babes went down 2-1 to their FCT counterparts.
It was a really bitter experience for the South West team.
The third place match will now feature Ogun against Gombe, while the final match is between FCT and Kano. Both matches will hold on Saturday at the Sanni Abacha Stadium in Kano.
