The reign of former Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavoen, as manager of national division one side Bendel Insurance FC of Benin unexpectedly got off to a lukewarm start in the league, with his team failing to convince home fans so far that they are positively turning the corner to promotion to the elite premier league.

After two home matches (prior to last weekend) Insurance had won one and drawn the other, and there were rumours that the team’s management was planning to dispense with Eguavoen if he didn’t win the weekend fixture against 3SC of Ibadan at their Samuel Ogbemudia home ground.

In a hotly contested fixture that saw the Oluyole Warriors (as 3SC are nicknamed) putting up a great fight, Charles Omokaro settled matters in Insurance favour with a late penalty in the second half.

Speaking after the game, Eguavoen hailed the performance of his players, while pointing out the telling difference between his team and Shooting Stars. “They (3SC) are the same team from last season. They retained their players and are paying some of them about N350,000 per month, unlike my team that has not had their salary paid in the last three months,” he said.

Eguavoen, a former Federation Cup winner as coach of Enyimba International of Aba, called on the Edo State Governor to do more to improve the fortunes of Bendel Insurance.

•Photo shows Coach Eguavoen of Bendel Insurance.