Banjul — "Unknown enemy" was how national team caretaker coach, Sang Ndong, tagged the Lone Stars of Liberia. According to the erstwhile national goalie and skipper, this was the reason why the Scorpions had a dull first half.

"We did not know anything about the lone stars before the game," he pointed out, adding that the first half was used to study the opposition and come up with new strategy in the second half, which worked as expected.

Technical Director Ndong made these comments in a one on one with Independent Sports after full time. The Liberians, he went on, must consider themselves lucky that Ebou Sillah failed to put away a retaken penalty.

"If that penalty was scored, an entirely different game would have unfolded," said coach Ndong. He expressed satisfaction with the performance of his boys and pointed out that preparation for the return leg would begin soon.

Despite his side's failure to register an away goal, Liberian coach, Nkrumah, is still upbeat that his team will have the last laugh of the tie, come November 16th in Monrovia.

He expressed disappointment with the central referee for allowing Gambian players to harass his players.

In a game that was a must win for the Scorpions, they took the game to their opponents and could have gone ahead had Edrissa Sonko not squandered a chance in the 4th minute. From then on, it was game on and the all battle was pinned on the midfield. In the 20th minute, a one two between debutant Simon Badjie and Jatto Ceesay resulted in an in swinging cross. Seyfo Soley got onto the end of it but the Liberian goalie failed to be beaten. Three minutes later, a three-man combination between Seyfo Soley, Ebou Sillah and Jatto Ceesay in the penalty box saw the skipper being upended, resulting in a spot kick.

Teammate Ebou Sillah stepped up and put it away. However, the central referee ordered the spot kick to be taken and this time, Sillah showed he was human, blasting wide. The miss fired up the visitors and gave their hosts a major scare when Samuel Games got the better of Ba Dembo Touray but the woodwork proved to be a nation's saviour.

After the break, the Scorpions continued with the offensive football they had played, adding more steel to the midfield with the entry of German based Abdourahman Njie, who relieved hit man Aziz Corr Nyang. It worked and, on the 66th minute, Njie notched a typical German goal, driving home a 25-yard screamer. A deafening roar rang round the stands, pumping new life into the otherwise subdued supporters. Ndong must have sensed that more goals were needed for he sent on local and foreign based hit men, Daddy Gai and Latif Janneh. However, a second goal came from an unlikely source, somewhat. Edrissa Sonko, who has not scored for his country for over two years, made amends with a header eight minutes from time. It could have been a third but the chance was rued.