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Gift Monday is still over the moon after her brace against Nasarawa Amazons on Sunday handed her team the 2021/2022 Nigeria Women’s Football League Premiership title at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, reports Megasportsarena.com.
The Bayelsa Queens forward, who is on loan from FC Robo Queens, won the Woman of the Match award in Super Six tournament courtesy of her nine goals in five games and swelled her season’s record to 12 goals in 10 games.
She was left dumbstruck after enjoying a phenomenon campaign as she also scooped the highest goalscorer and most valuable player of the tournament awards.
“I feel really happy and grateful. What was in my mind was to help the team win Super 6 and I was glad to be able to achieve that.
“I didn’t anticipate scoring these numbers of goals, but I am grateful. It means the future is bright for Gift Monday and I’ll keep working towards it. I want to show good performances every day.”
After a poor 2021 outing in Ijebu Ode, Bayelsa Queens qualified for this year’s Super Six event with Nasarawa Amazons, Naija Ratels, Delta Queens, hosts Edo Queens and holders Rivers Angels, having ended the regular season as Group B winners.
They started the six-team tournament with a 2-1 victory over Rivers Angels, followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Naija Ratels and a 2-1 win over Edo Queens before a 1-0 win over Delta Queens to put themselves in pole position for the title.
With just a point to seal the crown, a first-half brace from Gift Monday in the ensuing final match against Nasarawa was all Bayelsa needed to reclaim the title for the first time in 2018.
The latest league success was Bayelsa’s fifth title following previous successes in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2018 and no one was as happier as the champions’ head coach Moses Aduku.
“Honestly, I don’t know how to express my feelings, because when I look back, just 12 months ago, this same competition almost cost me my job,” Aduku, who won his third domestic title in the last 12 months in Benin City stated.
“I found out that overconfidence was one of the things that affected us [in 2021] because of the regular season, but I had to tell the girls that we need to go as the underdog and see what God will do which paid off.
“Here I am the 2021-22 season champion. I am grateful to God and everyone who participated with us I must say thank you to the Bayelsa State Government because they’ve motivated us financially, they supported the team so well.”
The former international, when asked about what next for the club, said: “We going to be celebrating, and after that, we go back to the board and start to see how to start preparation immediately. We need to win at the WAFU B regional playoff to qualify, that’s the most important thing for now. So all our efforts must be towards qualifying. We must try to prepare well.”
For their efforts, champions Bayelsa Queens received five million naira (12,000 USD) as prize money and will represent the country at this year’s WAFU B qualifiers for the CAF Women’s Champions League, while runners-up Nasarawa Amazons bagged three million naira (7,222 USD) and third-placed Rivers Angels got two million naira (4,822 USD).
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