It was a bubbling atmosphere at the Old SUB pitch, the venue for the curtain raiser match for the 2025 edition of the SEALS Cup tournament. 270 days later after the August 24, 2024 encounter that saw the Department of MBBS finally become Champions of the SEALS, the two final teams, MBBS and IPE, met once again for a chance at redemption and bragging rights.
The game which has been the most highly talked about fixture since the draws held, was graced with a large fan turn-out as fans from both teams and beyond came to cheer on from the stands.
The opening match was preceded by an Opening Ceremony, shortly after the defending Champions, MBBS, paraded their trophy. Afterwards, the Scotch dancers gave a thrilling dance performance to the excitement of the fans. The game was then ceremonially kicked off by the Student Union President, Covenant Odedele.
The match started with MBBS having easy control, attempting to unsettle the IPE defense and make them cave under pressure.
Surprisingly, it was IPE who struck first. A corner kick in the 11th minute was taken by IPE starman, Kenneth, who found the captain, VK whose precise header gave IPE the early lead.
MBBS had a near-immediate response as a scramble in the IPE box required a clearance from Boluwatife. However, Kenneth continued to be a threat to the MBBS defense but his 16th-minute free kick was blocked by a resilient MBBS defence.
Dunsin, IPE’s Goalkeeper was called into action repeatedly as he denied Habeeb of MBBS in the 20th minute and made crucial saves to keep MBBS at bay.
The first half ended with IPE in the lead, thanks to the early first half goal from VK.
Second half came with more fervour from the IPE team in a match that was as intense as the scoreline. Multiple chances came the way of IPE early on in the first half but the lack of clinical edge kept the game at 1-0. MBBS, seizing the momentum, found their equalizer in the 19th minute through a superbly struck free kick from Dave.
IPE quicky regained the lead in the 23rd minute after a defensive error from MBBS’ Instanbul allowed Abraham to calmly slot the ball past the MBBS Goalkeeper and into the net.
Just when it seemed like IPE would run away with the win, fate had other plans. A slip by Dusun the IPE Goalkeeper allowed MBBS to level the score again, capitalizing on this Goalkeeping error.
The Last action from the game saw a free-kick for MBBS but nothing came out of it as the game ended in a Stalemate.
This result means that both IPE and MBBS have played back-to-back full-time draws in their last two meetings and would share the points in Group A, with 1 point each.
For IPE, missed chances and a late lapse cost them three points. For MBBS however, they would take this fighting Spirit into their next game as they seek to break the jinx of defending Champions not making it out of the group stage.
The SEALS Cup tournament continues on Thursday, 22nd May 2025 as the second Group A fixture between the Departments of Biochemistry and Arts and Social Science Education.
