By S. Siapha Mulbah
A heavily controversial penalty awarded to Lofa County in the quarterfinals of the 2023/2024 National County Sports Meet has contributed immensely to the team booking of another semifinal slot in the history of the competition.
An early second half penalty called by center referee George Momo against Bomi County caused the officiation of the last quarterfinal match of the ongoing County meet at the Samuel Kanyon Sports Complex last Sunday April 28, 2024 to be heavily criticized by stakeholders and county official along with fans.
In the heat of competitive on-pitch battles and ball control from both teams, it is reported that the momentum of the match was killed when referee Momo sounded his whistle for a foul committed on James Tarpeh of Lofa who was on the attack for a possible goal scoring opportunity by Bomi County’s goalkeeper as a penalty.
The point of criticism is that goalkeeper Melvin Miller committed a foul that posed a thread of being red carded to him but the incident occurred across the line of the penalty area.
However, videos and pictorials evidences parading social media have clarified that the referee actions and final determination on the matter could be justified from his proximity to the incident. This paper has not been able to independently verified the point of contact that existed between the two opposing players due to the slightness of the occurrence.
The referee’s decision was immediately called for as penalty which took the match to a standstill for minutes because of disagreement and protestation from the players but there was no review to the decision of the referee.
James Tarpeh converted the spot kick after the heated argument into the roof of the net. Thereafter it took three minutes for the goal scorer to drive into the goal area of Bomi again with several leg switches over the ball to assist Jeremiah Johnson who got the extended lead for the 2023/2023 defeated finalist.
Lofa managed their lead from the early minutes of the second half till the announcement of a four minutes added time despite pressure of redemption and upbeats by Bomi County team.
On the play of 90 minutes recorded, Lawrence Kumeh came through with a strike from within the penalty area to reduced the scoreline to 2-1 and became the fulltime result to have Lofa crossing over the blue Lake boys.
The Bomi County Sports Association in a post-match reaction with media platforms complained what they call “Very poor officiating” and noting that central referee Momo could be formally reported for his action.
They alleged and maintained that the penalty was wrongfully awarded to because the contact between Jame Tarpeh and the goalkeeper occurred outside the box.
According to the association, there were intentional delays their opponents and many others disturbances on and of the pitch that were justifiable enough for the match officials to allot more added time than four minutes.
“This is utterly disgraceful and embarrassing to the National County Sports Meet,” a publication on the social handles of the Bomi County Sports Association stated.
