Rising Stars Pin Nat. U-20 The rampaging Rising Stars won their tenth game in a row on Wednesday, April 23, when they pinned the NationalU-20 of Liberia 2-1 at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium. A copy book goal from the resourceful holding midfielder Adolphus Mutu Blamo in the first stanza and a winner from Sierra Leonean international net buster Suliman Kamara after Morris Dolo had pounced for the leveler in the second stanza was enough to see the unsung Rising Stars add the National U-20 of Liberia under the technical guidance of Joseph Kaytu Smith and co-Coaches Robert Lartey and Sam Chebli to their list of victims. On a cool afternoon at the ATS, the Rising Stars dressed in distinctive gold and black outfit, looked superior to their opponents in dominant blue as they enjoyed a lion share of possession in dictating the flow of the melee. Short crisp passes from the midfield trio of simple passing Adolphus Mutu Blamo, sublime Fred Brooks and the incisive Exodus Caine set the tone for the Rising Stars eye pleasing performance. But, they seemed to be carried away by the huge possession and were less threatening in terms of creating chances as the opponents goalkeeper was not under much threat. The front three of Emmett Papa-K Wleh, Third Division starlet Morris Vambo and Suliman Kamara were not as well into the fray early on due to the lack of consistent service, but as the half progressed, the lad Vambo from Junior Gardnersville was a revelation as he got behind his marker at will and caused a menace. Had the Rising Stars being more purposeful or hungrier in employing effective functional football and not involved with much showboating, the game would have being put to bed before half time as they would have being up by a wider margin, but the slender 1-0 lead at the break did not really reflect their dominance. The Rising Stars back four which included three Third Division players in the fullbacks of the pacey Fassell and the inventive Cyrus as well as the robust Musa Toure that were guided by the experienced Grosso stood firm at the rear as they, through the aid of Sierra Leonean international goalkeeper Mohammed kanu kept a clean sheet. For the goal itself, it was a well worked one. After a string of passes from 1-2 to 1-2-1, balanced midfielder Mutu Blamo made an enterprising run in the final third and was released by Exodus Caine via a sumptuous thru ball that he slotted home to rotate the score line from 0-0 to 1-0 in the 18th minute. In the second period, The Rising Stars changed their gold and black script to green and yellow with the inscription MED, a sports management firm in the country, under the duo Deo Shamo Jlopleh and Edwin Tukpah. The National U-20 made a plethora of changes and became more adventurous. Prince Nani Saylee who had a relatively quiet first half raised his game with teammates as they found the equalizer through Nimba United hit-man Morris Dolo after 48 minutes. With Ainol Cooper and Recino Weah, another Third Division lad coming on and Blamo moving to center back position for the Rising Stars, the National U-20 began chasing the game as they created a host of chances, but the towering shot stopper Mohammed Kanu who was in goal when the Liberia National U-23 defeated their Sierra Leonean counterparts in post match penalties in December 2010, during the preliminaries of the 2012 Olympic where Patrick Doeplah (peace to his ashes) scored the winning penalty after a 1-1 draw in the second leg at the SKD just as it was in the corresponding fixture, was outstanding for the Gardnersville based Rising Stars. More substitutions were made on both sides with the Rising Stars introducing more promising kids mostly from the Third Division. But, one player who made his return to the ATS after more than three years absence was Christopher Momo who styled for the disbanded Roots FC and United Soccer Ambassadors (USA) after a stint with Gardnersville FC. The lad who notably had a stint in Cameroon with Canon de Yaoundé came on for the Rising Stars as they switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-1-2-1-2 formation before their effort to win paid off as Suliman Kamara scored for the fifth match running, this time from the spot after a teammate was upended in the 83rd minute to end the full 90 minutes 2-1 in their favor. Thus, the Rising Stars go marching on and their next stop will be at the Tusa Sports pitch on this Saturday to engage the Tusa field All-Star beginning at 8am and are expected to engage the Doe Community All-Star on Sunday afternoon at the Clara Town sports pitch. See photos from the match.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Apr 2014 13:22:37 +0000
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