Africa-Press – Liberia. Lofa County beat defending football champion Nimba County 2-1 after coming from a goal down in the semi-finals at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex on Thursday, May 2, 2024. In doing so, the one-time county meet champions booked their place in a second final in the last three years after a comeback win.
Perhaps owing to the pressure of knowing a spot in the final was on the line, a cagey start in the first half did come as a slight surprise after the first 10 minutes of the match that saw Nimba taking a frantic lead through their captain, Josiah Cea, on 11 minutes. It was Nimba who drew first blood on that occasion, but Lofa were quickest to level things when they fired past the Nimba goalkeeper from inside the six-yard box to send the half to a 1-1 draw.
After the interval, Lofa fought to extend their lead, but the strong back line of Nimba stood their ground. Emmanuel Sieh, the current Most Valuable Player from the last edition of the tournament, tried to perform some magic, but the Wologisi boys were determined to stop him.
With time running out, Lofa captain James Tarpeh was brought down in the box by Nimba’s keeper and Central referee Koffa Doe wasted no time in calling for a penalty. The Heaven Eleven midfielder Morris Konneh stepped up and converted the penalty, sending the Nimba County keeper the wrong way.
Down by a goal, Nimba fought to take the game to extra time, but the legs of Alexander Curtis and Pascal Harris in defense for Lofa played their hearts out to maintain their lead as the match ended 2-1 in favor of Lofa. Lofa will now meet a surprise package, River Gee, in the final of the football version of the National County Meet.
River Gee defeated Grand Bassa County in the semifinal on Wednesday 2-0 to book their place in the final. Meanwhile, Nimba came from two runs down to beat Lofa in the Semifinal and secure their place in the grand final of the National County Sports Meet Kickball version. Nimba defeated Lofa in a penalty shootout after reaching third base, while Lofa couldn’t reach third base.
Nimba will now face Rivercess County in the final on Sunday at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex. Rivercess and Nimba came from the same zone and will now meet to determine the Champion of the tournament. Rivercess defeated Bomi 6-1 in home runs to advance to the Grand Final.
With the pairing now confirmed for the final, it’s now clear that there will be a new champion in both Kickball and football.
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