Nigeria:Lagos League has strong Foundations as Levites challenge for fourth position
With the Van Vliet Lagos League reaching its two-thirds mark, 74 of 110 matches completed, a clearer picture of the qualifiers for the 'Super 4' segment of the league is emerging
Kwesi Sagoe
11-Feb-2002
With the Van Vliet Lagos League reaching its two-thirds mark, 74 of 110 matches completed, a clearer picture of the qualifiers for the 'Super 4' segment of the league is emerging.
The Foundation teams FCC1 and FCC2 seem poised to take the their traditional
positions in the 'Super 4' and all things being equal they seem destined to
be joined by GCI Old Boys.
However the fourth spot is the one generating a lot of excitement as Cosmo,
ordinarily a holder of a spot in the segment is struggling this season
having lost two matches against Levites and FCC2 so far and are yet to play
the defending Champions FCC1.
The fourth slot is being heavily contested by the youthful Levites Club all
the way from Benin in Edo State about 350 kilometres outside Lagos. The league matches will definitely tone up the skills and competitive spirit of this team in preparation for the upcoming National Sports Festival taking place in Edo State in March. So far they have won five of their seven matches played and are currently placed fourth on the log.
King's College Old Boys have also come to the party this season seriously
fancying their chances of picking up a 'Super 4' slot. They have won four of
their six matches are in fifth place on the log while Cosmo is in sixth
place also with four victories out of six.
One of these three clubs will pick up the final slot and in reviewing their
remaining matches one might be tempted to give it to the youthful Levites
but for the experience factor.
They have three matches left against Rocks, KC Old Boys and Pioneers having
played all 'big' matches therefore their schedule seems the softest. On the
other hand KC Old Boys still have to play Levites, Cosmo, Rocks and GCI. The
crunch match will be their match with Levites and possibly the winner of
that match may go through since on current form KC Old Boys is expected to
succumb to GCI Old Boys. Cosmo on the other hand have to go through GCI Old
Boys, KC Old Boys, FCC1 and FGCW with the last being the easiest.
This schedule looks the toughest out of the three hoping to pick up the
final place and may just prove too punishing for this Cosmo team that has
lost many of its players and is in the process of infusing new players. It
looks like a call between Levites and KC Old Boys but we'll just have to bid
our time till February 24th when the roundrobin segment of the league would
have been completed.
The matches played over the weekend for a change produced superiority of the
bat over the ball with two centurions and another score of 90 not out. Young
Joshua Ogunlola of FCC2 batting one down against Cosmo on Saturday emerged
with the first century this season carrying his bat with a score of 106
laced with crisp straight drives and good running between the wickets. He
was joined on Sunday by Wale Adeoye of FCC1 with an unbeaten 102 against
Levites while Anofiu Salako laboured with his 90 against FGCW which provided
the fulcrum for his side's victory.
Cricket enthusiasts are patiently awaiting the 'Super 4' segment that will
bring out more even contests among the four qualifiers and the organisers,
CCC are also seriously contemplating splitting the league on a two division
basis whereby the first five finishers this season will qualify for the 1st
division while the last five with any other new entrant will contest in
Division 2 in a move that will encourage a more competitive league.
VAN VLIET LEAGUE TABLE(2001/2002) 25
Position TEAMS P W L D BT BW PTS 1st FCC2 7 6 1 0 12 61 223 2nd GCI 6 5 1 0 24 34 183 3rd FCC1 5 5 0 0 12 29 166 4th LEVITES 7 5 2 0 2 28 155 5th KC 6 4 2 0 6 27 133 6th COSMO 6 4 2 0 7 24 131 7th ROCKS 7 4 3 0 2 14 116 8th PIONEERS 8 3 5 0 8 14 97 9th DYAKS 7 1 6 0 2 27 54 10th FGCW 7 1 6 0 7 16 48 11th DOLPHINS 8 0 8 0 0 13 13