By Victor Kanayo
Nigerian representative at the ongoing CAF Women’s Champions League- Bayelsa Queens on Saturday beat Simba Queens of Tanzania 1-0 to win the third place match.
The bronze medal feat by the club was achieved in the second edition of the annual competition.
And the Prosperity Girls are the first Nigerian women’s team to earn a podium finish at the women’s Champions League which started last year in Egypt.
It was a tensed game as both teams pressed for goals, but the attackers of Bayelsa Queens and Simba Queens were goal shy as they lacked dept to finish up in front of goal. The first half ended goalless.
On resumption of the second half, the girls from Yenagoa put pressure on the defense of Simba Queens, but the defense line of Simba did not give in until the 70 minute when Juliet Sunday latched on a rebound to score the only goal of the game.
After the goal, in the 76 minutes of play Aderemi Mary (who was yellow carded in the fifth minute of play) and Etim Edidiong were replaced by Evanick Touta and Chinyere Igboamalu, to see if to get more goals, but it was not to be with the game ending one nil in favour of Bayelsa Queens Football Club.
Bayelsa Queens lost 1-0 to hosts AS FAR of Morocco in the semi-finals, while Simba Queens also fell 1-0 to champions Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the last four.
The win against Simba Queens was Bayelsa Queens’ third in five matches played at the tournament.
Both teams made tournament history as they became the first teams at the finals to lose their opening game and then win their next two group games.
The final will happen between AS FAR of Morocco and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa – the defending champions on Sunday November 13.
