Colombe Sportive wins maiden Cup of Cameroon title.

The club, which was created in 1953, achieved the historic feat after narrowly edging Aigle Royal of the Menoua 1-0 yesterday. This was during the final of this year’s edition of the Cup of Cameroon. 

The final of the Cup of Cameroon took place yesterday at a raucous Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde. 

Roared by their fans who massively travelled from the South, Colombe Sportive was busting with confidence. 

Colombe came into the game with outstanding form. They proved their hunger to end their title drought as they displayed a scintillating display in the opening minutes of the game.

It did not take long for Colombe to take the lead. The team was rewarded for their strong start when they found the breakthrough. 

Ivan Mvondo Olama teed his teammate, Duamel Boris Ekoto, with a through ball to open the scoring with a header from close range at the 9^th minute. 

Colombe had better opportunities to double the lead but failed to hit the target. 

Aigle fought back strongly but resorted to long range strikes, which were either parried away by Goalkeeper Idrissou Nfor Finia of Colombe or went past the cross bar.

The first half of the match ended on a 1-0 score in favour of the South Region club. 

Colombe returned for the second half with the same verve like the first. They came close to doubling their lead, but the Aigle goalkeeper denied them the opportunity on several occasions. 

Coach Gaston Temfack of Aigle, just like Richard Towa of Colombe, injected new blood into their teams with the hope of either levelling score or increasing tally.

Aigle had the better chances and showed their attacking intent but didn’t do enough in the final third.

Colombe’s goalkeeper, Nfor Idrissou, pulled a string of world class saves to frustrate Aigle. Aigle dug deep for an equaliser during the dying minutes of the game but it was in vain. 

At fulltime, there were jubilant scene as players and fans of Colombe went wild with excitement. 

The club’s midfielder, Ivan Mvondo, was voted Most Valuable Player, MVP at the end of the final and received a-2 million FCFA cheque from MTN Cameroon. 

Coach Towa who spoke to reporters at the end of the final expressed satisfaction with the results. 

He said Aigle was a tough opponent but they won because his players respected instructions he gave them.

Revisting Colombe’s run to the final 

Colombe Sportive secured their first Cup of Cameroon title in convincing manner. They won all six of their matches without conceding a goal. 

They began their campaign with a 3-0 thrashing of Eding Sport in the 32^nd round. They also picked up similar 3-0 wins against Avion Academy of Nkam and last year’s champions, Fovu Club of Baham. 

In the quarter-final, Colombe picked up a slim 1-0 win over Panther of Nde. They qualified for the final after thrashing Isles of Hope Soccer Academy, ISOHSA. 

Colombe’s historic win yesterday in their first attempt means that they will represent Cameroon in the CAF Confederation Cup next year. 

Yesterday’s final of the Cup of Cameroon, which marked the end of 2023/2024 sports season, was presided over by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, who represented President Paul Biya. 

Also in attendance were several members of government, administrative, religious and traditional authorities as well as other dignitaries. 

The various winners from the 54 sports federations received their trophies from the hands of Prime Minister Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3245 of Monday September 30, 2024