Sunday’s Sierra Leone Premier League match between FC Johansen and East End Lions FC ended in a scoreless draw at the Lungi Playing Field in Lungi Kaffu Bullom. Against a strong Lions squad, a weakened Johansen team performed outstandingly.

In addition to players who were ill or injured, Johansen also had to play without four players who were on loan from the E.E Lions. Reserve players have to be added to the roster by the technical team.

The beautiful match was marred by poor and inconsistent officiating from match officials. One notable instance was the early in the game when both Lions were sent off for violently elbowing the Johansen midfielder off the ball by his Lions counterpart. Everyone, including the Lions’ fans, had anticipated that the referee would simply send Mahrez out, so their shock when Bilili was also dismissed while still being bleeding from his wounds was palpable. However, Bilili’s red card was overturned after the game, and the Johansen midfielder was unable to finish the game.

Around the 80th minute of play, a Lions defender handled an across ball from Lamin Conteh in the six-yard box as another illustration of uneven and subpar officiating. The central referee also declined to award FC Johansen a penalty.

All of the above decisions by the officials, cost Johansen a well deserved victory.

The residents of Kaffu Bullom and football fans gave Isha a hero’s welcome. She made a significant impact on the game and brought some sense to it, particularly when the opposition team initiated a scuffle. She quickly brought about calm. The head of world football was incredibly pleased with how her guys performed in the given conditions.

The young Johansen team (Dream Chasers) was motivated by her first-half team talk to outperform the Lions (The Killers).

Top SLFA officials, including General Secretary Christopher Kamara and Director of Communications Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, were also present at the game.