Gulder 5 A-side Football: City Rollers, Raymond King are North Central Champions

LAGOS, NIGERIA, July 29, 2011 (Press-News.org) The Gulder 5 Aside zonal elimination contest ended on Monday, at the Ibrahim Babangida Square in Makurdi, Benue State capital with Raymond King FC of Makurdi and City Rollers FC of Abuja knocking out other teams to qualified from the zone to make it to the finals in Lagos.

The first semifinal clash between Raymond King FC of Makurdi and City Lions FC of Abuja ended with 2-1 in favour of Raymond King to set up a final clash with City Rollers FC of Abuja who had earlier defeated Tijara FC of Jos also by 2-1

Speaking at the end of the tension soaked semi final clash with Tijara FC of Jos, the captain of the City Rollers of Abuja, Dele Victor-Adaramola said that he was very happy to be part of the success. "It has been a fantastic outing for us and I am not surprise that we are getting the results because we really prepared for this competition. Though it is not the normal football competition that we are all used to, but we took it serious. Our tenacity has now qualified us for the finals in Lagos where we aim to go and conquer the rest 13 teams from other zones for Lagos Knock-out stage", Victor-Adaramola said

Victor-Adaramola who was also the highest goal scorer for his club with 5 goals to his credit, expressed his joy for being the highest goal scorer. "I am happy with my performance at this year's Gulder 5-A-side. One day I hope to be a striker for Super Eagles of Nigeria though I still have a long way to go, but it is achievable" he said.

Also speaking, the coach of City Rollers FC, Oluwatosin Oluremi Ajayi said that his boys did not disappoint him as they played to instructions. "This is our first tournament this year and I told them that Lagos is our destination and we are grateful to God that we are going to Lagos. We will be focus and will not disappoint the north central zone in this tournament" he said

Coach Raymond Toryila of Raymond King FC on the other hand was so excited for his club to be in the final. "When people think of football academies in Makurdi they will always think of Raymond Academy. Gulder 5 Aside has put us firmly on the map as a top academy now and people will think of us. We are looking forward to the finals in Lagos where we will know the ultimate champion of Gulder 5 Aside in Nigeria" he said.

Coach Raymond further stated that this is just the stepping stone to Lagos. The success recorded here in Makurdi is just to spurs the team to do greater things in Lagos. "I see Gulder 5 Aside football tournament as another chance to play competitive football which can helps these boys build their confidence when playing professional football" Coach Raymond disclosed.

The finals between Raymond King FC and City Rollers FC which was played in the early hours on Monday saw City Rollers of Abuja beating Raymond King FC of Makurdi 3-1 through penalty shootout after playing 1-1 draw at the regulation time. With the result City Rollers came first while Raymond King came second and the two clubs will represent the zone in Lagos