FC Johansen hold Kallon to a goalless draw

Newly-promoted FC Johansen on Sunday 12 February held FC Kallon to a goalless draw to extend their unbeaten run to 27 matches in all competitions.
The encounter between these two highly successful clubs was the highlight of the Premier League as they fought, unsuccessfully, to leapfrog Diamond Stars to the top of the league.
Both teams had hoped to maintain their momentum by continuing with their recent winning form. But the first half of play saw either side creating scoring chances which were met with excellent saves from their stubborn goalkeepers Christian Caulker (FC Kallon) and Isaac Caulker (FC Johansen) who kept the nets barren.
But the lack of a goal by no means meant the match was not exciting. As the game wore on the tactical Johansen had Mother Luck and the technical savviness of their Coach to thank for a draw that was almost slipping into a win for the Kallon boys who began purposefully passing the ball around and mounting sporadic attacks. Had FC Johansen’s goalie Isaac Caulker not smothered several crispy shots by Salifu Samura, Alhaji Kamara and Abdul Bobson Sesay in the 24th, 58th and 82nd minutes, the visitors could have killed off the game.
Johansen’s Assistant Coach, Adama Kuyateh expressed satisfaction that it was all good to get a point out of something. “It is not a win but it is a good thing to get a point at least whenever you play a game” Adama said, adding, “you always get chances but that doesn’t mean they will always end at the back of the net, [so] you always have to keep creating”.
He said his team lacked nothing as “the boys played well” noting that “both sides came out for a win and we did what we had to do”.
FC Kallon Coach Charlie Wrights’ game plan does not seem to have been working as their last two matches ended goalless, results that are not good enough as his side prepare to face Union Douala in Cameroun this weekend. The Kallon boys failed to inspire confidence after a disappointing goalless draw. Reacting to the result, Coach Wright praised his opponents saying Johansen are a side everybody is watching. “We did our best and everything we required to clinch the three points, [but] it was just not our day. [However] next time we'll work on it” he added. He said they were now focussing on their trip to Cameroon.
Kallon’s left halfback Abdul Bobson Sesay expressed his team's disappointment at the result. “We felt very bad as it was a match we needed to win as we had so many shots on target, even me,” he went on, blaming even himself for not converting his chance to a goal. “I felt it, as we were not able to secure a win. But we took few lessons and we are definitely going to work on that”, he vowed.
“We were expecting more than this but we appreciate the result, the team we played against is an experienced and trained side. We were both prepared for this match and we did our best” said Johansen left-wing forward Nyakeh O. Alpha, adding that his team would now concentrate on their next match away to Wusum Stars in Makeni.
Johansen are now level on 12 points with league leaders Diamond Stars while FC Kallon are in third place with 11 points.
The league continues on Wednesday 15th February.