Perfect five-in-five: Brilliant Bendel Insurance make a clean sweep of first awards of the NPFL season

Bendel Insurance head coach Monday Odigie and striker Imade Osarenkhoe have been rewarded with the two top individual awards of the opening month of the 2022/2023 season of the Nigeria Premier Football League.

A former Lobi Stars loanee, Osarenkhoe scooped the League Bloggers’ award for Player of the Month of January after an excellent goalscoring run.

A petroleum engineer by training, Osarenkhoe grabbed four goals as he scored in each of Bendel Insurance’s four games in January, netting in wins over Akwa United, Plateau United, Kwara United, and Remo Stars.

The 22-year-old currently shares the top scorer chart alongside Plateau United star Emmanuel Onyebuchi, with four strikes after five matches.

While Onyebuchi heads home with the best player award, his head coach, Monday Odigie has also been recognised as the best coach of the opening month of the league campaign.

The veteran tactician has forged Bendel Insurance into a solid unit, with the best attack (nine goals scored) and the best defence (one goal conceded) in the division.

The last time Odigie guided the Benin Arsenal to the NPFL in 2019, they only managed one win in their first six league games and got relegated at the end of the season.

But the former Golden Eaglets coach is enjoying a different experience this term as he is guiding the newly-promoted club to be one of the title favourites.

Insurance have picked up where they left off in January, as the Benin Arsenal started February with an impressive away win at El Kanemi Warriors taking their tally to five wins in five games.