By Sigismond Nicol
It was a colourful match between Soja Town and Abacha City at the Parade Playing Field in central Freetown at the ongoing COFA League.
Both teams could be nominated as the youngest team in the competition. There were only 3 big names during the match – Shekita, Ibrahim A Sillah (Agogo) and Thomas Sanu (skipper man for the Soldier Boys).
In late first half of play in the 35th minute, Ibrahim scored a brilliant header which was reversed by the Assistant Referee I. The two sides had several opportunities but none yielded any goal during the first 45 minutes of play.
After the recess the second half was in total control by the Noisy Boys of Abacha City who continually dominated the midfield of Soja Town.
Jalloh who was introduced to replace Agogo was the tallest player. His introduction really created an impact for Abacha City; he was like the king for all the sky balls, making the defense area of Soja Town restless for them. He would have scored in the early second half of play but for the timely intervention of Alimson Bangura who headed it away from the extreme end of the pivot of Soja Town.
Alimson Bangura who was a debutant in the COFA inter area performance was indeed extra ordinary in the match in the late second half.
However, a brilliant opportunity came for Abacha City when Mohamed who was in the number 8 jersey dived into the 18 yard box of Soja Town, beat Lewis, and a hard tackle from Muss Balumbe (another debutant for Soja Town), caused a penalty against the skipper. This was converted, putting Abacha City in the lead.
After that opener the noisy traders were like knocking the ball about like Barcelona.
A few minutes later Soja Town made a substitution bringing in Medo Javolani Kamara who trades his football for DV United. He created a chance for Shekita, but he was unable to convert it into a goal.
So it ended at Group E: Abacha City1-0 Soja Town.