By S. Siapha Mulbah
The National County Sports Meet apparently angered the sporting spirit of its many fans with a decision to have extra time in a quarterfinal match rescheduled by match officials due to poor lighting at the Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Complex.
The game between Nimba and Grand Gedeh could not played to conclusion with the extra time because the game’s regularities got suspended at 2-2 during the evening hours on Saturday April 27, 2024.
After the full time, central referee Josephus Torjilar reported to the match commissioners and organizing committee that the visibility of the tightly contested quarterfinal match was poor and affected the sight of the match officials due to the lack of proper lighting on the playing pitch, which prompted consultations, leading to a decision the fans considered disheartening to football.
The Chairperson of the Media and Publicity Committee of The National County Sports Meet, P. Oxford Brown, immediately announced that the two teams consented to having the outstanding 30 minutes scheduled for today, Monday, April 29, 2024.
Browne, the Director for Communications at the Ministry of Youth and Sports intimated that the match will be played on extra time, as well as post-match penalties, if there is no winner on the field of play.
Following the pronouncement, fans began expressing disappointment, noting that the situation that impeded the full completion of the match is a result of poor planning by the organizing committee. Some explained that the long postponement of the competition should have been used to examine and address some of the issues, including the lights and other systems.
Others noted that the Ministry was in an irreversible error to have matches scheduled for late hours knowing that they would last up to night or early darkness, where there is no light to assist the match up to standard.
A cross section of fans wearing Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties’ jerseys explained to reporters that there are some supporters that came from long destinations to celebrate their teams and going home without a result means that they have not achieved their goal.
According to them, the delayed extra time will bury the momentum of the game and kill the celebration for whoever wins and create fatigue in them for the next match day.
“The two teams came to play with all they have and that is why we came here to cheer them, and we expected the steering committee of the National County Sports Meet to understand that this is football and any result is possible. They should have setup a better timing to save us from this embarrassment,” Jeremie Cole blasted in the corridors of the stadium wing.
“What we experienced here today can only happen in Liberia; this event is long overdue but no sign to show as cause for which it was postponed. Having a night game is interesting and the lights along with other things at the stadium need improvement, so why did MYS not go after them before calling it a special edition?” Zoegar inquired.
Nimba County and Grand Gedeh had a competitive showpiece, winning the admiration of the audience, but missed chances that could have killed the game off in regulation time.
The defending champions, Nimba County, through the County Meet’s last Most Valuable Player award winner, Emmanuel Sieh, opened the path of goals on 16 minutes. The opener could not stand for the first half result because Nuch Zohn got the equalizer on 44 minutes.
Seconds after the ball was kicked for the start of the second half, Nuch Zohn put the south easterners in front with fast play speed. The delayed extra-time came about when Mohamed Keita brought back Nimba’s hope by getting an equalizer in the 70th minute.
