In a bid to develop grassroots football in Port Harcourt, the 2023 Mayor Football Cup tournament among Wards in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area (PHALGA) kicked off on Saturday at Elekahia Primary School field.
The tournament was gripped with excitements and fanfares witnessed by huge attendance saw  Ward 7 recording  her first  victory  over Ward 2 via 4-2 penalty  shootout  after both sides settled  on one goal apiece  at regulation time.
Call it a high profile grassroots football  competition  if you like, the truth  remains that  good  number of soccer fans including  eminent  personalities  were in attendance  to grace the opening  game.
Speaking in an interview  with sports journalists shortly after the keenly contested match, the Mayor Sir Allwell  lhunda  expressed satisfaction with  the good football  artistry  displayed  by the two teams irrespective of the final score  line  in favour of  Ward 7.
Sir lhunda further disclosed that it was his burning desire to sponsor the tournament aimed at using the platform to foster unity among various Wards as well as to expose budding talents that abound in the area for grabs  by talent chasers.
“ln fact, the standard of today’s game with  the officiating  were okay as it could be compared  with  what  we used to witness in the Nigeria  Professional  League  matches and also at  National level.
“The boys actually played well and l can assure you that if they sustain  the tempo, nothing will stop  talent chasers coming to  look  for  them”,  the self- confident” said.

Heartland of Owerri, on Wednesday, continued their impressive form since Kennedy Boboye took over the former champions two weeks ago with a 1-0 defeat of Bendel Insurance in a Week 12 game of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
The Naze Millionaires went to Ibadan to pull a draw with Shooting Stars last week and yesterday at their Dan Anyiam Stadium home, they beat Insurance through a 51st minute goal scored by Austin Osayande.
The win, however, has not taken the Owerri team off the regulation zone as they still occupy the 19th spot in the 20-team league.
Leaders, Remo Stars, are still top despite their goalless draw with Niger Tornadoes in Minna, while Sunshine Stars have climbed to the 11th spot off their 1-0 defeat of Shooting Stars of Ibadan in Akure . The Akure warlords’ winning goal was scored by Moses Omoduemuke in the 72nd minute.
Kano Pillars defeated Akwa United 1-0 at the Sani Abacha Stadium; Moses Adikwu Vincent’s two goals (in the third and 94th minutes respectively) were enough to see off Enugu Rangers, whose lone goal was scored by Chidiebere Nwobodo in the 16th minute.
Abia Warriors waited till the 94th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw in Umuahia against Sporting Lagos, whose goal came in the 19th minute through Naibe Akpesin.
Doma United continued their impressive run in the league with a hard-fought goalless draw with Kwara United at the Ilorin Township Stadium, while second-placed Lobi Stars defeated Gombe United by 1-0 courtesy of Chinedu Sunday Chukwu’s 25th minute goal.
Doma United are placed third on the log, followed by Kano Pillars in fifth and Enyimba, whose game against Katsina United was postponed, in sixth.

The grand finale of the MTN Champs will commence from today and end on Sunday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja where 10 winners will bag scholarship and financial benefits.
MTN CHAMPS is a program in Nigeria that aims to unearth and foster athletics talent across the country.
It is modeled after the Jamaican High school CHAMPS and is poised to become the primary platform for identifying and nurturing promising athletes who could go on to represent Nigeria in prestigious international competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships.
Before the finals in Abuja, the track and field event was held in three different regions namely: Uyo, Benin and Ibadan where over 7,000 athletes have competed and 42 finalists emerged.
Speaking at the MTN Champs Press Conference held on Wednesday in Abuja, the General Secretary of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Rita Mosindi appealed for the introduction of anti-doping lectures for the young athletes.
“ I want to appeal for the introduction of anti-doping lectures for the kids to educate them on the side effects of taking dope substances.
“These are raw talents that we can manage and nurture them to stardom.
“My advice is to do seminars concerning this just as we have started doing as a federation to reduce doping cases in Nigeria.”
Founder and CEO of Making of Champions (MoC), Bambo Akanni, who is the brain behind the MTN Champs revealed that 10 young athletes from the championship will get special scholarship in the USA and Jamaica.
“MTN Champs involving Secondary School Championship is to discover future Olympians for the country, building youth to excel in sports and academics. This is in line with MTN history of supporting local athletes for global aspirations.