National Premier Soccer League | 13 May 2018 | South Philadelphia Super Site | Attendance: 75 | Scorers: Joe 3, Allison 13,21,51 Kamara 30, Maturana o.g. 50, E. Slueue pen 90; Parsons 64.
MATCH SUMMARY
Junior Lone Star FC kicked off the 2018 National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season in style after beating Torch FC 7-1 on Sunday at the South Philadelphia Super Site.
Forward Anthony Allison scored a hat-trick, debutant Nyakeh Kamara had a goal and two assists, while Deron Joe and Edward Slueue had a goal each.
Playing back in Philadelphia for the first time since their inaugural season in the NPSL in 2012, the Stars started impressively and were up 4-0 after just 31 minutes at the South Philadelphia Super Site.
Midfielder Deron Joe started the scoring in the 3rd minute after his deflected shot from the edge of the box sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Torch almost equalized two minutes later but goalkeeper Prince Monyan made a fine one-on-one save to deny Torch the equalizer.
The Stars added their second in the 13th minute after a fine team move. Midfielder Nyakeh Kamara sent in a through pass to defender Samaba Koroma who was making an overlapping run on the left side and his brilliant cross was met at the far post by Anthony Allison who headed powerfully home.
Nyakeh Kamara was again involved in the Stars’ third goal after using his pace to sprint pass the left-back before picking up Anthony Allison who powered home his second of the night in the 21st minute.
At the half-hour mark, Nyakeh Kamara finally put his name on the score sheet off a corner from Emmanuel Kollie to put the Stars 4-0 ahead before the break.
Five minutes after the break, a mix-up between goalkeeper Logan Whitney and defender Manuel Maturana saw the Stars extended their lead to 5-0 through an own goal after a high pressure from Deron Joe.
A minute later in the 56th minute, the Stars were 6-0 up with Allison completing his hat-trick with Nyakeh Kamara again providing the assist after exchanging passes with Allison.
Forward Malik Parsons pulled one back for Torch FC in the 64th minute after dribbling past Monyan to score in an open net.
Goalkeeper Ralph Jacobs, on for Monyan, made a brilliant save to keep the score at 6-1.
Substitute Seydou Ba wasted several opportunities to put his name on the score sheet but it was another substitute Edward Slueue who scored the Stars’ seventh from the penalty spot to seal the 7-1 victory for the Stars.
MANAGER’S QUOTE:
“Overall decent performance from the boys. Getting the three points from the first game was a top priority; therefore, we are happy as a group for that.
“However, we had some glitches during the game we have to clean up if we want to reach our ultimate goal.
“We will work hard again these few days and put a game plan together that we as coaches believe would give us the best chance to get all three points in our next game at Atlantic City FC.
“We are definitely looking forward to build from yesterday’s positive performance.”
~ Head Coach Fatoma Turay
THE LINE-UPS
Stars: Monyan (Jacobs 78); Donzo (Zoegar 78), T. Turay, N’Guessan, Koroma; Sheriff (A. Fane 72), Joe (Mulbah 59′); Kamara (E. Slueue 78), Dennis, Kollie (Thoronka 72); Allison (c) (Ba 59).
Subs not used: N/A.
Booked: None.
Torch: Whitney; Smith (Pelari 46), Powers, Petrie (Lewis 46), Kosoko (Maturana 36); Crossley, Logan, Oliveira, Pennsuwan, D. Shafer; Parsons.
Subs not used: Navarrete, Holloman.
Booked: None.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR STARS?
Next up is a trip to the Stockton University Stadium in New Jersey to face Atlantic City FC on Saturday (3:00 PM kick off).
This will be the first meeting between the two sides and the series will now be known as the Benjamin Franklin Derby.
Head coach Fatoma Turay will be looking to build on such an encouraging start to the new NPSL season.