The Euphoria that Greeted Ndinjo Awudu Stanley’s Christmas Unity Cup Final that Lasted for Two Days

 By FC Ndi

 A record has been established in Donga Mantung Division after the football final of a tournament sponsored by Ndinjo Awudu Stanley dubbed Christmas Unity cup lasted for two days. The final beating Formation Sango of Nkambe and Binju Young Stars ended at about 6:28 pm on Sunday December 28, 2015 after post penalty shots. The two teams moved to penalty shot-outs after 90 minutes elapsed in a goal-less draw. During post match penalty shots, a total of 22 shots were taken with each team scoring 8 goals. Due to poor visibility, the final was postponed to Monday 29, 2015.

On day II of the final, over 6,000 people showed up at the Nkambe Presbyterian School field to live the historic event. The kickoff was respected and the match started at about 2pm. Barely 11 minutes into the match, Formation Sango opened the scores through shirt No 7 and in less than 10 minutes, Binju Young Stars also hammered into the net the equalizing goal. Both team tussled until the match ended with both teams moving to the second series of penalty kicks. Formation Sango ended up putting into the net 5 penalties out of 5 while Binju Young Stars crashed with 4 goals. The euphoria was total as supporters of Formation Sango invaded the field in jubilation.

Before handing over the trophy to the winner, the Assistant Divisional Officer for Nkambe Central congratulated the cup donor for exhibiting talent. He said the first edition of Ndinjo Awudu Stanley’s Christmas Unity Cup has proven to be the best ever. To the Divisional Officer, the fact that the final lasted for two days is a sign of total commitment and good. “I have never witnessed this before and it is on record that I was part of this record”, he continued. He also expressed gratitude to the organizers as well as supporters of the two teams for their mark of maturity.

On his part, the cup donor Ndinjo Awudu Stanley said he was elated that the purpose of the tournament which is that of unifying youths has been achieved. Drawing his inspiration from the fact that the final lasted for two days, Awudu Stanley said he won’t lie on his laureate. “I promise that this tournament is going to be a yearly event whereby we could encourage talent and stimulate rural animation during this festive period of the year”. When quizzed by journalists whether the tournament had no political undertone, he said though he is from a political family, nobody was dressed in any political outfit. “From yesterday, both teams showed that there was unity. They both wanted to play football not necessarily to win the trophy but to portray that in football that symbol of unity in sports. In fact I was very impressed with the way the supporters of both teams behaved. They also showed a sign of maturity. We are far gone; there are no borderlines in football, no politics and no clannish tendencies”. Stanley also disclosed that he saw a lot of talented players who could be likened to the likes of Messi, Batetoli, Marco etc who played beautiful football. “No one could ever imagine that we have such talented players here in Nkambe. It is been a discovery and a good one for that matter. It encourages me the more that next year; we are going to do better”.

The tournament that started on November 29, 2015 finally drew the curtain on December 29, 2015 with Formation Sango winning the trophy. It should be recalled that more than 12 teams participated in the tournament. Teams like the Baraki boys of Binshua and FC Kungi thrilled the crowd but were unfortunate that they could not reach to the final.

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