MONROVIA, Montserrado – The 2016-17 Liberia National County Sports meet has reached its quarterfinal stages with some of the competition’s top guns failing to qualify from the group stage.
With underdogs River Gee and Lofa making the list of counties that qualified, giants Bong and Grand Gedeh failed to reach the quarterfinals after poor performances in the group stage.
Bong, for the first time in over a decade, failed to qualify after suffering a 2-1 defeat to group host Lofa. In that game, Lofa and Bong needed to draw to eliminate Margibi, which had failed to score in their two games. However, Lofa came out strong as they grabbed the group’s only win with a 2-1 triumph over Bong. Lofa progressed as group leaders with four points, and Margibi placed second with two points.
In Group Three, last year’s losing finalist needed luck to advance to the quarterfinals after drawing all of their matches in the group. They began with a 2-2 draw with host Nimba before playing to a goalless draw against River Cess and Sinoe. Monsterrado finished second with three points, four points behind group winners Nimba, which collected two wins and a draw.
Football defending champions Grand Bassa ensured they qualified despite having a tough time in Group One. With a single win and two draws, Bassa finished second and progressed. Cape Mount proved to be one of the competition’s serious contenders with their fine form in their first three matches. They collected a maximum six points from their first two games before playing to a goalless draw against Bassa on the final day of group matches.
One of the competition’s biggest shocks came in Group Four where Grand Gedeh failed to reach the quarterfinals following their poorest performance in almost a decade. Underdog Maryland advanced to the quarterfinals with seven points. The group four hosts finished as group leaders with seven points from their three matches and will be joined by River Gee in the next round.
Unlike past competitions where there were regular quarterfinal matches, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has introduced a new format where eight teams that qualified will be placed into two groups. The top two from each group will go through as semifinalists.
The draw for the quarterfinals was held on Dec. 15 at the Sports Commission in Central Monrovia. Bassa will have to fight its way through a group considered to be the group of death if they are to defend their title. Having struggled in Group Two where they finished second behind Grand Cape Mount, they have been paired with Nimba and Margibi along with surprise Group One topper, Lofa, in Group B.
In Group A, Monsterrado will hope for more luck as they have been paired with counties that performed well in the group stage. The two-time losing finalist was handed River Gee, Grand Cape Mount, and Maryland. Monsterrado failed to win a single game in the group stage and will need to improve in the quarterfinals if they are to go any further.
The quarterfinals will kick off on Monday, Dec. 19 at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium with Maryland and Monsterrado playing the day’s first match at 2:00 p.m. Grand Cape Mount and River Gee will climax the day with the second match that will kick off at 4:00 PM. The first round of the quarterfinals will continue on Dec 21 with Bassa playing Lofa in game one while Nimba and Margibi will play in the day’s second encounter.
Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley, Jr.
