After trailing for separate victories since the start of the domestic football campaign in the 2024/2025 league season, last weekend got the champions of the National First Division Watanga Football Club smiling with their first competitive win alongside Mighty Barrolle after playing over five matches each in the topflight.
Since the start of the nation’s top flight on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, both the Rollers at Mighty Barrolle and Watanga are yet to see their way through the first division league which they started on a weaker fortune.
While the two sides struggle to persist in the league, last Sunday got them showing impressive performances in the Orange Cup opening rounds for this year.
The reigning champions and the traditional club being of no apparent threat to teams in the first division based on their lower slot sitting on the league table, Watanga became giant over LPRC Oilers in a 3-0 encounter while Barrolle raised arms of supremacy over a second division side Gompa FC in the knockout competition.
Beating the ‘Oil Boys’ with a Nuch Zohn Hattrick at the TUSA field in Gardnerville was the first time this season Watanga danced at the end of full-time with hopes of making a comeback to their basic campaigns on the domestic scene.
In fact, the result from the match against the Oilers is the champion’s biggest win in the ongoing season at all competitions contributing to 75% of the total number of goals they have been able to score up to date.
They have scored four goals as a club in all competitions in a total of six games including the latest win against Oilers.
The Orange Cup victory got Coach Cooper Shannon again confident that his reign at the Liberian Championship is a must with Watanga this season despite their early downcast to the second seat from the bottom of the table.
His analysis of hope to win the championship was squarely centered on a belief that the league is still fresh with more games that could turn things around from time to time while the different fixtures are progressing.
According to Coach Shannon, the current league leader FC Fassell is only 11 points ahead of his team after five games already played and 21 remaining matches on the way that will be used to get the needed points for the champions to prevail at the end of the season.
For Mighty Barrolle their winless streak ended against newly promoted Second division Gompa FC at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex practice pitch in Paynesville City with its new manager Sekou Manubah guiding the team to a convincing 4-1 victory.
Since his appointment on 5 November after the sacking of Coach Christian T. Mend, Coach Sekou Manubah has so far played 2 games in all competitions for the Rollers of Mighty Barrolle.
His first game in charge was on November 6, 2024, at the famous Nancy B. Doe Sports Stadium in Kakata in the LFA First Division where Barrolle salvaged a point against Watanga FC with both clubs playing to a one-all-draw at full-time.
Barrolle is currently occupying the last slot in the top league with one point.
They have conceded the highest number of goals this season in the two top men’s football competitions under the watch of the Liberia Football Association.
The spotlight is now back to the continuation of the first division after a weekend kickoff of the Orange Cup opening rounds.
Watanga and Mighty Barrolle along with the Blackman Warrior Football Clubs being the three teams without a single win in their division league will go back to action in tarry to taste a win in the league.
