The regional third division of the Upper River Region (URR) has reached its climax with Kuteh Jombulu and Wagadu to contest the right to the regional championship title.
The two sides reached the finals of the competition with wins over Sabi and Kerewan respectively in the semifinal matches played over the weekend. Kuteh was the first to reach the deciding match when they defeated their opponents 5-3 on a post-match penalty shootout following a nail-biting 2-2 thriller at the Basse High Level Playing Ground on Saturday.
In today’s other semifinals between Wagadu and Sabi, the former proved too powerful for their traditional rivals with a dominant 2-0 win. The two finalists will now face off in the tournament decider at the Basse High Level Playing Ground on April, 10.
The winner of the match will be crowned the regional champion and thus, represent URR in the four-regional triangular playoffs for the solitary spot awarded to the provincial champions to qualify to the national second division.
Elsewhere, in the Lower River Regional third division playoffs, Karantaba FC today defeated Kiang Julafar FC in a post-match penalty shootout following a goalless stalemate at the Jarra Soma Mini Stadium. With the win, Karantaba has joined Dibba Oil in the final phase of the qualifiers. Dibba Oil had earlier on Saturday secured a deserved 2-0 win over Bantonto FC.
Japineh and Kinteh’s 11 were the first two teams to go through to the final phase following wins over Tabokoto FC of Soma and Pakalinding respectively. The latter won 1-0 while the latter were winners in a three-goal thriller against their Pakalinding neighbors.
The draw for the last stage of the qualifiers will be conducted later in the week and two of the four sides will qualify to the regional third division league where they will join Kiang West, Jarra United, Jarra East, Jarra Central, Kiang East and Kiang Central in the eight-team competition.
