The Nigerian Federations Cup has entered the round of 16 with teams gearing for the battle to be national Challenge Cup kings.

As a competition that is famed for throwing shock results and revealing fresh talents, this year’s Federations Cup has so far lived to the hype. Giants and former African champions league kings Enyimba of Aba were booted out by a less fancied Remo Stars, while other top teams like Sunshine Stats of Akure have also bitten the dust.

One team that is defying the odds so far is Edo State grassroots side BJ Foundation. The club has followed their shock Edo FA cup triumph with a solid showing at the national level. They qualified to the round of 16 by beating national amateur club, Sportlite of Kano 3-1.

A lot of BJ’s strong display in the competition is owed to their young top striker, Francis Ikpomwonsa. Talk about an individual fairy tale run in the Challenge cup this year, and Ikpomwonsa’s name must feature.

Early this year joined BJ after having been spotted in the streets by the keen talent-discovering eyes of Coach Douglas Idahosa. It was an easy decision for the Ikpomwonsa to accept the invitation to come and train with a coach with the credit of having groomed such stars as Super Eagles Victor Moses, Edison Echiejile and Porto’s MikelAgu.

“Though I always trusted in my talents, it was a pleasant surprise when Coach Douglas called me up to join BJ. I was elated to be given the chance to train and play with this famous grassroots team,” Ikpomwonsa tells News Express.

His impact at BJ has been devastating. In his first ever competitive match for the club, he scored a hat trick in his team’s opening game of the Edo State Challenge Cup this year, and went on to win the Golden Boot award as highest goal scorer in the competition.

If anyone was thinking Ikpomwonsa’s performance at the Edo Challenge Cup was a fluke, then they must have been forced to revise that opinion. In the national Federations cup, the petit attacker has been in a rich vein of form, banging in a goal each in his teams two games so far that have catapulted them to the round of 16 of the competition.

Ikpomwonsa’s style of play is an aggressive all action style that is similar to that of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez. He is a fighter who would typically not stop harassing defended, chasing every lost ball and helping his side to recover possession quick. And with possession of the ball, he is quite simply a killer. With fast feet and a sharp mind, he possesses that step-over style of dribbles that have earned him the nickname ‘Leg-over’ in Benin City.

As BJ prepare to meet premier league top dogs Heartland of Owerri in the round of 16 of the Challenge cup, it would be interesting to see how well Ikpomwonsa will cope. But, with a usually calm and fearless heart, Ikpomwonsa is unlikely to be fazed by the challenge of facing the Naze Millionaires.

“We will go into that match with self belief and confidence. We respect Heartland because they are a premier league side, and it’s not easy to be at that level like they have for many years. But we won’t ever fear any team. We are BJ and we have a rich tradition ourselves,” Ikpomwonsa says.

Football scouts, clubs and agents would do well to keep an eye on this rising and confident star.

•Photo shows Edo Challenge Cup highest goals scorer and BJ attacker, Francis Ikpomwosa posing with his Golden Boot award.

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