Former Gambia Under-20 and First Divisions side Gamtel coach, Tapha Manneh, is conquering the Liberian league with his club, Liberian International Shipping & Corporate Registry, LISCR FC.
When he moved to Monrovia Tapha Manneh revealed it would be a difficult moment for him as a foreign coach but he has so far managed to lead his team through its first five matches without conceding a defeat in the current campaign.
The team has continued its unbeaten run throughout the season and is now seated 2nd on the league table with 33 points from 17 matches and are now four points behind the league leaders.
The team could have been on top of the table at this moment, but drew nine matches; some of which they had opportunities to collect all of the three points.
“I think we are unfortunate to be in the current position otherwise we should have topped the league but we drew some of our games,” Manneh told the Liberian Daily Observer.
The opportunities were provided to the team during some of those matches after their opponents were reduced to 10 and 9 men, but could not utilise them.
Despite the draws, on the other hand, Manneh admitted that one is better than zero. The one point collected from those matches and the protest won against FC Fassel for featuring an illegal player put the team in a position that could give them the championship if their rivals, Fassel FC, fall prey in their last five matches.
In the previous meetings with their last five opponents (MC Breweries, Jubilee FC, LPRC Oilers, Invincible Eleven and Keitrace FC), LISCR won two and drew three.
The Shipping Boys in phase one of the league secured wins against IE(2-0) and and MC Breweries (1-0) that marked their third win out of the first seven league matches.
With five matches remaining for the Shipping Boys, Coach Manneh has said that his team is not sure of winning the 2016/2017 LFA Championship, but has expressed confidence that his team is going to win their last five matches in the league.
The last time the Shipping Boys kept an unbeaten run was under former Coach Gabriel Johns that went 19 games unbeaten.
If LISCR FC goes unbeaten for the entire season, this will be the first time that a team has gone unbeaten in the LFA 1st division championship, and Coach Manneh will become the first foreign coach to go unbeaten in the entire season.
Can LISCR FC maintain their unbeaten record?
Source: Liberia Daily Observer
