River Gee Breaks County Meet Deadlock

River Gee County has finally broken the deadlock of the county meet by winning her first-ever county meet championship since the inception of the tournament.

The Fish Town boys of River Gee defeated Lofa County 4-1 in a post-match penalty shootout on Sunday after a 2-2 draw in the full 90-minutes followed by an extra 30 minutes of play in the Football Grand Final of the 2023-2024 edition of the National County Sports Meet.

Blamo Weah's opener put River Gee County 1-0 ahead of Lofa in the early minutes of the first half, but James Tarpeh fired a strike for Lofa County to have things leveled 1-1 to end the first half.

Approximately 20 minutes after the break, Lofa County took the lead 2-1 with a head-up goal from James Tarpeh making it brace for the Shaita FC forward following a defensive blunder from River Gee.

Notwithstanding, Jusu Dukuly renewed the hope of the Southeasterners with a rescued head-up that was converted in the dying minutes of the match to equalize and end the score line 2-2 for River Gee in the full 90 minutes at the Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Complex.

The Grand Final tussle which proceeded to penalty shootouts after the extra 30 minutes was absorbed, saw River Gee County triumphing over Lofa 4-1 in the shootouts to taste her first-ever county meet trophy since the organization of the tournament in 1956.

The milestone achievement for coach Daniel Sasley and River Gee County got the Southeastern boys to be crowned champions in the Football competition of this year's edition of the tournament before thousands of jubilant supporters at the famous Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville.

The championship brings the Fish Town boys struggle for winning the tournament to an end after the county suffered over breaking the deadlock in 2009 following a 5-2 defeat to Bomi County in the Football Grand Final of the National County Sports Meet.

Meanwhile, a prize of Two Million Liberian Dollars (2,000,000 LD) and Three Hundred Thousand Liberian Dollars (300, 000 LD) were given to River Gee and Rivercess Counties respectively for clinching the Football and Kickball championships.

The much cheered tournament came to an end on Sunday, May 5, 2024, with Youth and Sports Minister Cllr. Jero Cole Bangalu lauding sponsors, and participating teams, including fans, for the good spirit of unity and support throughout the entire tournament which led to the successful end of the sporting festival.