Invincible Eleven Football Club’s 1-0 win over their long time traditional and historical rivals, Mighty Barrolle Football Club on Sunday, opened a smooth ride to have the Liberia Shipping and Corporate Registry (LISCR) Football Club ascending to the top of the top league table ahead of the last fixtures to close the first phase of the season.
Barrolle had occupied the top spot of the Liberia Football Association National First Division league table for a couple of weeks, based on their strength in winning home fixtures in Buchannan City. The ‘Rollers’ had, for weeks, maintained the first place slot by limiting the sharing of match points with their opponents, with a record of winning eight games, drawing two, and a single loss, prior to their last Sunday fixture.
Meeting the “Sunshine Yellow Boys” (IE) at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia Match Day 13 was the greatest blow of the week encountered by the Rollers. While they (Barrolle) were struggling to settle things at the ATS that evening, LISCR was progressing by every second, with pressure to overpower Paynesville Football Club at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex Practice Pitch in Paynesville City.
IE captain, Fred Brooks’ lone strike in the midway of the first half was sufficient to take the oldest Liberian football team to their second league victory since the 2023/2024 season started.
Brooks, in the 23rd minute, capitalized on the weakness of the Rollers’ squad, netting IE’s eleventh league goal of the season to put them in the lead before the halftime break. With the two sides ending the second half goalless, IE were able to leave the relegation zone with FC-Kallon, Cece United, and NPA Anchors.
Invincible Eleven are 11th on the league table, even on points with FC-Kallon Liberia. Both teams are going into their respective upcoming fixtures to end the first phase with uncertainty, concerning who remains with Cece United and NPA Anchors, who will both spend their mid-season break in the relegation zone.
LISCR have now moved back to the top with three points over second placed Watanga and third placed Mighty Barrolle. The defending champions are on 29 points. The next two are equal on 26 points each.
The Shippers defeated the ‘Citizens’ Paynesville FC 2-1 to send Barrolle from the top to third. Christopher Jackson and Daniel Toe scored one goal each. Hassan Gray tried coming through to have Paynesville changing the narrative in the match, but his solitary strike ended up being just a consolation.
