By Kemoh Sesay
Leone Stars Coach Johnathan Mckinstry says his team's away fixture with The Seychelles could be tricky as the Pirates could pose a real threat.
Mckinstry who was addressing a news conference after Leone Stars defeated the Pirates 2-0 in Freetown described the performance of his team as "encouraging taking into consideration the state of the pitch which was not good for my players and their opponents as well".
He told journalists that the visitors nearly frustrated Leone Stars by "playing more defensive football which made attacking very difficult as they had a game plan to keep the game goalless". "We were patiently attacking them until we got our opening goal in the 55th minute by Khalifa Jabbie, the pressure continued on them until we got our second goal in the 65th minute through a penalty when Suma was brought down in the box", he said.
The coach commended the "mental character of my players on the pitch". According to him, "this has shown that they can cope with the likes of Cameroon and others in African football".
Interim Coach of Seychelles, Ulric Malthiot described the match as a competitive one but insisted that they still have a chance to overturn the result at home. He said "We came to here to have a draw or a goal that's why we were defensive minded. We are very much happy to have such a result from a highly ranked team in Africa", said Malthiot.
He described his team as work. "I did not expect much from these players as we do not have any professional in the team compared to Leone Stars".
(C) Politico 22/07/14
