“This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.” – Winston Churchill 

Seeking a new kind of challenge, the Sporting Lagos U19 team chose to dare by joining The Creative Championship. New to the terrain, the side, led by Olusanjo Olutayo, sought to battle it out with other teams for glory in both the league and the cup. 

Their journey began in October, playing host to Atlantic Business in their first league game of the 2022/2023 season. Simeon Umeh’s opener in the second minute gave a glimpse into what the newcomers were about. But Simeon’s goal was not enough to get them a win as they lost their season opener at home 2-3. 

Undeterred by the loss, Coach Olusanjo’s boys picked themselves up and brushed Valiant aside in a 4-0 game that saw Adio Ojora score a 24-minute hat-trick. 

First win? Done. First clean sheet? Done. 

Up next for them was testing their mettle against the league winners, Beyond Limits. Godspower Akekoromowei got his second of the campaign in the 10th minute. But it wasn’t enough to secure the win as they forced the champions to settle for a draw. Not bad for a team barely a month old in the league. 

Their reputation in the league did not, however, spill into the cup as quickly as they followed the away draw at Remo Stars Stadium with a loss to Valiant. Back to the league, Gbagada was waiting. And as they did with Valiant, Sporting Lagos again came out on top, putting three past the Blue Eagles – a result that sent them up to second on the log table. 

The newcomers continued their scoring spree on Matchweek 5 as they got the odd goal in a five-goal thriller against Dino SC. They went into the next fixture top of the table. They however failed to maintain the winning run as they were held to a draw by BroadCity.

Two quick draws – against Imperial and Dannaz – signaled the start of a poor patch of form. The November slump dragged on into December as they began the month with their first loss of the league, a 3-2 loss to Iganmu FC.

Back to TCC Cup business, Sporting Lagos redeemed themselves with a hattrick of unreplied goals against Atlantic Business. They went on to finish the year with wins over Iganmu, Dannaz but lost the last game of the year, a TCC Cup tie, against Beyond Limits. 

They resumed the new year with league wins over Imperial (5-2), Dannaz (1-0), and a draw against Dino (0-0). They followed up these results by completing a league double over Gbagada before surrendering to yet another defeat, this time at the hands of Beyond Limits. 

After getting eliminated in the cup, Sporting Lagos focused on managing the highest possible finish in the league. As such, they rounded up their debut TCC League season by completing the league double over Valiant and registering a league win over Atlantic Business. 

It was a season to remember for Sporting Lagos, especially for their fans, who will now be looking forward to how well their team can impress in the second season.