Fortune, they say, favors the brave – those who dare to be adventurous and step into unchartered waters. Atlantic Business chose to be among the audacious few when they joined The Creative Championship for the 2021/2022 season.

For their efforts, they finished in 6th, a decent start for a side new to the terrain. Going into the 2022/2023 season, they determined to be more valiant in their efforts to match the best of the best in both The Creative Championship League and Cup.

And they started out the season in fine fashion, as they put three goals past newcomers, Sporting Lagos, in their first game of the season. This win did not come without a fight as they needed a 90th-minute winner, courtesy of Kingsley Odima, to nick the win. Beginning the season with an away win was just the right start Coach Adiro Olayinka must have been hoping for; a win that placed them in second on the log table by the end of MatchWeek 1.

The next game week saw them host the defending champions. Talk about a baptism of fire. But the Lagos-based side weathered the storm, handled their business, and registered a first-ever win over Beyond Limits to make it two out of two.

Flying high, they tackled Gbagada next. And although they could only manage a draw, they finished the MatchWeek top of the table, sitting pretty with seven points from three games. Dino was up next as they sought a strong finish to the month of October.

They would however fall short as they conceded in both halves to Coach Godwin Gibson’s men. It was the first time in the 2022/2023 TCC League season that they failed to score. The loss regardless, was an October to remember for the side, with their manager making their shortlist for the Coach of the Month award.

Enter November and Atlantic Business’ struggles in front of goal continued as they drew blanks in their 2-0 defeat to Broad City away from home. Whether by inspiration or by sheer determination to not lose three in a row, Atlantic Business, in front of their home crowd, overturned a 1-3 half-time deficit to register a 5-4 win over Imperial in their MatchWeek 6 TCC League fixture. The nine-goal thriller which saw Abiodun Mustapha score a 90+1’ goal became the TCC League’s highest-scoring game.

For all their comeback antics against Imperial, Atlantic Business slumped back to their old ways, as they lost to Dannaz in the league, played a goalless draw against Beyond Limits in the cup, and again failed to find the back of the net against Iganmu Tiger in the league.

December started with Coach Olayinka’s men in 7th. But it was far from being a season to be jolly for Atlantic Business as their winless streak continued with a loss to Valiant. They would eventually get their first win of December in the reverse fixture against Valiant.

But that wasn’t before they conceded three goals in their TCC Cup fixture against Sporting Lagos.

Valiant was the only side Atlantic Business defeated in December – they triumphed over them in both the league and the cup. Unable to put the poor run of form behind them in 2022, Atlantic Business slumped to a 4-1 defeat in their first game of 2023. This was followed by a 1-0 loss to Imperial and a 2-1 TCC Cup defeat to Gbagada which sealed their elimination from the competition.

A January to forget was followed by a bright start to February as they put three past Dino. But this was quickly followed by losses to Gbagada and Beyond Limits, results that doused whatever enthusiasm they started the month.

Despite the ‘gloomy’ results, there were a few shining lights on the side, one of which was Abiodun Mustapha, who at this point in the season, had already scooped up two Man-of-the-Match awards – against Sporting Lagos and Dino SC.

With just four TCC League wins (same as the last season), there’s plenty of work to be done as they approach their third TCC League season. Achieving a top-half finish, among other things, would require a tighter defense, compared to the one that leaked goals in almost every game it played in the 2022/2023 season.