Serekunda Central has justified the reason for their inclusion in this year’s Super Nawettan despite being the only Gambia Football Federation recognised Nawettan zone that failed to organise a competition this season.

They were included in Group A of this year’s championship draw held on Tuesday. The other teams in the group are defending champions Serrekunda West, Lamin, Brikama, BEM and Manjai.

Lamin Dibba, secretary general of the Serrekunda Central Sports Committee lamented that his zone is helpless inspite the efforts by the Committee to stage the Nawettan. He explained further that the committee had played its super cup, which was graced by members of the GFF.

Dibba claimed that most of the teams and players that participate in the Serrekunda Central Nawettan takes the Zone as a secondary choice.

“Most of the teams will go and play qualifying round football in other zones and after their elimination, that is the time they come to our zone for Nawettan football. The other reason for the delay of most of our finals is because we don’t have support to develop our football pitch,” he affirmed.

Alagie Nyassi, Grassroots Football Development Coordinator at the GFF said to derecognise a zone is not determined by the Super Nawettan Organising Committee (SOC) but by the Regional Sports Committee, in this case the Kanifing Municipality and the GFF. He added that the Super Nawettan Organising Committee is given the mandate to organise and steer the affairs of the Super Nawettan but is not their mandated to regularise any zone.

by Arfang MS Camara

Real de Banjul has accepted an invitation from Guédiawaye FC to partake in a four-team tournament in Senegal next month.

The tournament, which will take place from the 7-9 October 2016, will be played at the 5000-capaicty Stade Amadou Barry in Guédiawaye.

Real is invited alongside ASAC Concorde of Mauritania and Royal FC of Burkina Faso with hosts Guédiawaye completing the groupings.

“We are pleased to be invited to this tournament again by Guédiawaye, it already shows our existing relationship with them. We were there the last time in 2014 and we did extremely well there,” President William Abraham said.

He added: “We look forward to being there and do better than we did before. We will use it as a form of a pre-season tournament also to prepare for our anniversary as well next month.”

The four-team tournament will kick off on Friday, October 7, with two matches played before the third place the next day and the final on Sunday, October 9.

This will be the second time that Real will participate in this competition after taking part in the third edition organized two years ago.

Source: Real de Banjul

The much-anticipated Farafenni Marathon is slated for tomorrow,  Saturday, 1 October 2016.

Modou Leigh, Media  Assistant  of the Committee,  said  every thing needed make the Marathon a success have been put in place.

The proceeds from the event, he revealed would go towards supporting community activities in the areas of education and health. “We are sponsoring four students through this initiative and there are a lot of things we intend to contribute to the social development of the town,” he said.

Leigh disclosed that this year’s registration is D100, and the  race is expected to attract a good number of athletes in the 5km women category from Makka to Farafenni; 10km men from Chamen and the 15km cycling race from Illiassa to Farafenni. There will be an additional activity called Wahu, which is open to all.

Ismila Jammeh, adviser to the committee  told Daily Observer Sports that top prize attracts five thousand Dalasis, second prize four thousand,; third position, three thousand Dalasis; fourth prize is two thousand Dalsis and fifth prize is one thousand Dalasis.

He commended Trust Bank Gambia Limited and YKJ Security Services in UK for their support.

by Alhagie Babou Jallow

The Bakoteh-based Ballack FC have booked their place in the finals of the Manjai Kunda Nawettan trophies following their double victories over Johannes FC and Giants FC in the semifinal of the league and knockout tournaments respectively. The knockout final is set to play today (Friday) against D’dolphines and the league final will be on the 7th October against Starlight.

Ballack FC over the weekend book their place in the knockout final after eliminating Johannes FC 1-0 in the semifinal encounter. Lamin Jarju converted a penalty to secure the victory for his side.

On Tuesday, Ballack defeated Giants FC 2-0 in the semifinal of the league tournament following a respectable performance. Babucarr Thomo’s brace in the 54th and 58th minutes was enough to give them all the needed victory.

Speaking in an interview with Observer Sports, the head coach of Ballack FC Sambujang Kassama was a quite happy man after having taken his side to both finals, something he described as “dream come true”.

by Hadang Daffeh

There will be new champions in Brikama as the defending champions Fabou FC crashed out of the league following a 5-4 penalty loss to Jaliba.

Meanwhile, Yundum-based Yarambamba have progressed to the semis of the league following a narrow 1-0 win over Chimo on Wednesday courtesy of Bubacarr Jammeh.

In another game, it ended 2-2 apiece between Farato-based Fortune and Congi-bi. The game was called off due to darkness and rescheduled to a another date (to be determined by the committee).

Games will continue in the league today (Friday) when Puntalana take on Jaliba FC in a Brikama Nyambai derby.

by Muhammed Lamin Drammeh

2016 Bajana Marathon winner Miss Sohna Saho is not going to the United Kingdom to attend the Manchester Half-Marathon scheduled for the 16th of October 2016 despite being awarded an air ticket by The Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard), Observer Sports has gathered.

Sona Saho from The Gambia Police Force, was supposed to travel to the UK to represent The Gambia at two international half-marathons in the UK.

The first half-marathon was on the 11th of September – The Great North Run in Gateshead and the Manchester Half-Marathon, which is scheduled for the 16th of October 2016.

When Observer Sports contacted Roy Sanyang, CEO of Gambia Volunteers Trust, the organisers of Bajana Marathon as why Sona Saho missed the opportunity to apply for the UK visa to attend the Manchester Half-Marathon, Roy Sanyang said Gambia Volunteers has paid the UK registration for both the Great North Run and the Manchester Half-Marathon for Sona Saho and registration documents were sent to Sona Saho’s sports administrators at the Gambia Police Force since the 10th of June 2016.

“Invitation letters and relevant documentation including with the regards to accommodation, travel arrangement, sponsorship,   and a letter seeking permission from the IGP for Sona to travel to the UK from the event organisers were sent to Sona’s sports administrators”.

According to him, permission for Sona Saho to travel to the UK was granted by the IGP, but there were many demands from Sona’s sports administrators for all sorts of letters to be submitted to them before they could proceed to the Visa Application. We gladly provided them with all the letters and documentations that they requested.

“Finally after the delaying tactics, Opa Keita, the head coach of Sona Saho was told that there was no money from Gambia Police Force sports department to pay for Sona Saho’s visa fees. By the time we got the information that GPF sports department said there is no money to pay for Sona’s visa application, the dateline for the visa application has already expired,”Sanyang told Observer Sports.

Gambia Volunteers, he went on, has done everything possible to facilitate Sona Saho’s UK trip and a lot of money has been spent on her UK preparations including registration, accommodation and documentation. “We wanted to give Sona Saho the opportunity to compete with other international athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia and the rest of the world in the United Kingdom and to promote The Gambia in the areas of Sports Tourism. This event would put The Gambia and Sona Saho on the world stage as it is an event recognised by IAAF and televised worldwide by BBC television.”

He added: “Gambia Volunteers cannot understand why Visa fees would prevent Sona Saho from attending such an international marathon that would put Gambian athletics on the world stage. We were made to believe that athletes from GPF have a trust account for all athletes who run a marathon in The Gambia or abroad. When they win money, a percentage of that is deducted by the sports department for safe keeping so that in the event they happen to travel abroad they can use that money for visa transactions and others.”

However, Sanyang said The Gambia Armed Forces has paid the visa fees for Lebage Sanneh to attend the Manchester Half Marathon in October after missing out on the The Great North Run in Gateshead held on the 11th September. He therefore thanked GAF for their usual cooperation and taking care of their athletes’ welfare nationally and internationally.

When contacted by Observer Sports, long distance runner Sohna Saho was quite disappointed after missing such opportunity.

“I am disappointed with my sports department for waiting until at the last minute to say there was no money in our account that they can use to pay my visa fee. If they had informed me earlier, I would have tried to get sponsor from other people.”

According to her, she had the same problem last year, forcing her coach Opa Keita to take a personal loan to apply visa for her.

“I am so disappointed because we [athletes] got an account at the Police where 30% of race prize money is deducted to that account,” she testified, adding that the idea of the account was conceived in case of incidents like the one she is going through.

Saho said she has been running for the Police for the past two years and has been encountering similar treatments on several occasions.

As one of the most promising long distance runners, having won many races, the emotional  Sohna Saho said the lack of motivation is dampening her spirit.

by Alieu Ceesay

Furious fans of Sateba United FC Tuesday invaded the Sanna Jatta’s football field in Lamin Village, causing mass destruction at the playing ground

The incident happened after the referee awarded maximum points to Kombo Kerewan for the unsporting behaviour of Sateba’s fans towards the match officials, resulting abandonment of the match at certain time of match proceeding.

The Lamin Sports Committee sat over the issue and later forfeited the points and gave it to Kombo Kerewan FC, leaving both the fans and players of Sateba United angry over the decision.

This issue led both the fans and some players of Sateba United to destroy the entire Lamin football playing ground on Tuesday night.

The Sateba United fans invaded the Lamin football pitch when Universal Academy FC was supposed to play with Medina United in the knockout semifinal tournament.

Explaining the issue in an exclusive interview with Observer Sports, the Secretary General of the Lamin committee, Modou Bah, said that the reason for Sateba fans doing this unruly act was because of the points that were forfeited from their team.

“We [as the committee] decided to give the points to Kombo Kerewan FC because a fan from Sateba United on the day of the match threw sand on the linesman claiming that the linesman was not fair to their team.”

He added: “When he threw sand on the linesman, the linesman in consultation with the central referee called-off the match for three minute just to regularise the issue,” he told these reporters.

by Binta Jammeh &

 Binta Bah

The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) were on Saturday crowned champions of the National Inter-departmental Sports Association (NISA) tournament after defeating the Daily Observer FC 4-3 on post-match penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw in the regulation time.

Sang Gomez scored for the GCAA after capitalising on a goal keeping error on the part of Daily Observer’s Muhammed Fatty in the 31st minute. However, substitute Biram Gaye restored parity for the pen pushers (Daily Observer) in the 78th minute.

This victory over the Daily Observer has made the GCAA defend their title, having won the trophy last year. This is the first time a media house went this far in the NISA tournament.

As winners GCAA went home with a giant trophy and a cash prize of D10, 000, and Daily Observer FC were also given a trophy and a consolation prize of D8, 000.

Speaking in an interview with reporters shortly after the game, the head coach of GCAA, Dawda Jawara, expressed satisfaction with the performance of his players, noting that they had prepared very well ahead of this encounter. He noted that their defeat over Prison FC in the curtain raiser final inspirited them to prepare very well for the Observer team.

According to him, he was not expecting the game to end on post-match penalty shoot-out while blaming his defence for conceding the late equalizing goal during the game, saying their aim is to go to the regional competition in Senegal.

For his part, the assistant coach of the Daily Observer team, Bekai Njie, described his team as the best team in the competition despite losing to GCAA in the final. He blamed the post-match penalty loss on the dark as the game ended late, saying his goalkeeper is very good on penalty shoot-out but was not seeing the ball well.

“If we were asked about playing the shoot-out we could have said no, because it was dark and goalkeepers were not seeing the ball,” Njie said.

He however admitted that there was some weaknesses in his side during the first half, but that coming to the second half they were able to utilise their chances and made tactical changes which paid dividend.

He said the Daily Observer team is a young team with quality players, and hopes to maintain the team.

by Jainaba D. Jatta

The Tallinding Kunjang-based Milan FC were on Friday crowned champions of the Serekunda East knockout tournament following 3-0 post-match penalty shoot-out win over Future Stars FC, after a goalless stalemate in the regulation time. The encounter that attracted hundreds of fans, including GFF officials, was played at the Serekunda East Mini-Stadium.

The Tallinding giants Milan FC this year showed respectable performances in the Serekunda East Nawettan. They had only a single draw and won all their matches, leading them to both (league and knockout) finals in this year’s Nawettan.

Willingara’s Future Stars, a young side in the Serekunda East proper Nawettan, managed to book their place in the knockout competition but the Milan FC side shattered their hopes of becoming champions.

As winners the knockout champions, Milan FC, went home with a giant trophy and a cash prize of D25, 000, while the runners-up pocketed a consolation prize of D20, 000

Speaking in an interview with reporters after the final whistle, the head coach of Milan FC, Ebrahim Kalil Dumbuya expressed delight for their triumph in the knockout tournament, adding that he is very proud of his players for making use of every opportunity they got throughout this tournament.

According to him they had prepared themselves very well for the penalty shoot-out.

Dumbuya however congratulated his opponent for making a respectable performance during the final, while wishing them success in the future.

Sang Paul Mendy, the assistant coach of Future Stars FC, thanked his players for their wonderful performances in the entire tournament, noting that even though luck was not on their side, they have achieved what they expected from their players.

Their head coach was given a definite suspension for the final, but the assistant coach said the absence of their head coach didn’t affect the team, noting that their game plans worked for them well as they were only defeated on penalty shoot-out.

Milan FC last won a trophy in 2013 but this season they have made to both finals. Winning this knockout will boost their morals, as they will play Medina FC in the league final on Sunday.

by Jainaba D. Jatta

As part of preparations ahead of the forthcoming FIFA Live Your Goals (LYG) girls’ festival, the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) on Wednesday facilitated rehearsal at KG5 Mini Stadium for the lower basic schools in Banjul.

The Live Your Goals festival will be held from the 21st to 23rd October at Jarra Soma in the LRR. An international women’s football friendly is proposed up as part of activities for the big event.

GFF Women’s Football Coordinator Sainey Sissohore said the purpose of the induction session is to orient the school kids about the methods to be used and applied at the 4th edition of the LYG scheduled for October in LRR. According to her, the rehearsal has also given the GFF opportunity to interact with the kids many of whom would be selected for the October event.

“We are very grateful to the Banjul Sports Committee and the schools in Banjul for accepting our request to have conducted this session with them. I think we at the GFF are very happy to see kids with diverse talents especially in football and we do hope that their teachers will continue to help them nurture the talents,” she noted.

The session was capped off with a presentation of balls, pens and books from the GFF to the five schools that participated in the rehearsal. The Chairperson of the GFF Women’s Football Committee, Sainabou Cham, presided over the presentation ceremony and congratulated the kids for their show of interest in football.

The Live Your Goals festival is a FIFA project meant to raise awareness on women’s football and to encourage the participation of girls to play and stay in football. GFF Women’s Football Ambassadors would be at hand to support and give out technical instruction to the kids at the event.

by Arfang MS Camara

One of Gambia’s major financial institutions FIBank on Thursday agreed to partner with the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) to exclusively sponsor the 2016 Super Nawettan Football tournament.  The Bank and the Gambia Football Federation have further renewed their commitment for the commercial bank to continue bankrolling the zonal tournament for the next three editions.

This agreement was formalised at a meeting between the GFF and the FIBank Head Office along Kairaba Avenue. The meeting was attended by senior officials of GFF, headed by 2nd Vice President Ebou Faye and FIBank senior management team headed by Pa Ousman Njie.

As part of the package, the FIBank will give out D350, 000, out of which D75, 000 will be given as reward for the champions and D50, 000 for the runners-up. All the participating zones would be provided set of jerseys and preparatory costs amongst others ahead of the tournament.

The tournament will start on October 8th and would run for three weeks at five designated playing grounds: Banjul, Brikama, Manjai, Serekunda East and Serekunda West, while Independence Stadium in Bakau will host the semifinal and final matches.

Meanwhile the Super Nawettan tournament has now been renamed the FIBank Super Nawettan Tournament 2016.

by Arfang MS Camara

Medina FC were on Sunday crowned champions of the Serekunda East Qcell-sponsored league tournament for the second time, following a 4-3 post-match penalty shoot-out win over the knockout champions Milan FC. The regulation time ended  goalless.

Medina FC are now the second team to have won the Serekunda East league back-to-back after Sunoko FC won it in 1991 and 1992.

Meanwhile, if the league champions Milan FC win the league tournament they will be the third team to do that in the Serekunda East Nawettan following the likes of Ranger FC and United Stars FC, who came all the way from the qualifying round to claim both the league and knockout tournaments in 2005.

This was a Talinding derby as both teams are from Tallinding.

The start of the match was quite cagy and slow as both teams were meticulous in their attacks.

As winners Medina FC home with a giant trophy and a cash prize of D50, 000, while the runners-up Milan FC went home with a cash prize of D35, 000.

Speaking in an interview with reporters after the game, Sanna Darboe, head coach of Medina expressed happiness for defending their league title, noting that defending the title at Serekunda East, being one of the toughest zones in The Gambia, is amazing.

According to him, Tallinding United is the key for this year’s Nawettan because, he said, they fought hard to make sure that they qualified to the first division, adding that, most of the Medina FC players are playing in the Talliding United team.

“When we qualified for the first division, I knew that we would lose a lot of key players. That’s why we trained some young players,” he said.

Ebrahim Kalil Dumbiya, the head coach of Milan congratulated his opponent for the victory and accepted the defeat in good faith saying penalty shoot-out is just luck.

He announced that he has decided to retire as the head coach of Milan FC after winning the knockout trophy.

by Jainaba D. Jatta

The London Corner-based team, D’Dolphines FC were on Friday crowed champions of Manjai Kunda knockout tournament after a 1-0 win over Bakoteh’sBallack FC, in the final game, played at Father Gough Sports Complex in Manjai Kunda.

Samson John’s 7 minute strike was enough to make his side the champions of this year’s Manjai Kunda knockout tournament. The victory serves as a good reward for the D’Dolphines FC side after playing a wonderful football in this year’s Manjai Nawettan.

Meanwhile, Ballack FC, one of the best teams have booked their places in the finals of both tournaments.

As they lost this final over D’Dolphines FC side, Ballack FC will on Friday face off with Starlight FC in the league’s final.

As winners D’Dolphines FC were awarded a giant trophy and a cash prize of D25,000 while runners-up Ballack FC pocketed a consolation prize of D20,000.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Observer Sports, MikeEze, head coach of D’Dolphines FC expressed delight for winning the final, noting that his boys had followed their tactical game plan very well.

“As you know, you have to work very hard to know about your opponent and we are very happy about the outcome,” he remarked.

For his part, Sambujang Kassama, head coach of Ballack FC, expressed disappointment after losing this knockout final. He urged his fans and players to have patience.

According to him, they will take this defeat with good faith, while promising his fans to go for the league trophy on Friday.

by HadangDaffeh

For the first time in the history of Banjul Nawettan since 2008, Ngoyan have successfully collected both trophies this season in after defeating Juventus FC in the knockout and Late Ebou Sowe FC in the league respectively.

The 2016 Banjul Nawettan champions Ngoyan FC did well in both encounters at the Banjul Mini Stadium (KG5) to ensure the trophies are secured.  In the MSTE sponsored-league finals played on Sunday which ended with a 6-5 post-match penalty shoot-out, in favour of Ngoyan against Juventus FC.

The league finalists Juventus FC conceded an early goal courtesy of Sheriffo Wally but Ngoyan’s Muhammadou Jallow sealed the gap in the 38th minute to force the game into penalty shoot-out.

As winners Ngoyan FC were awarded a giant trophy and cash prize of D50, 000, while runners-up Late Ebou Sowe FC pocketed a consolation prize of D30, 000.

Other awards include: Mam Demba Sarr of Lancaster United, who were awarded as the leading goal-scorer and the best player respectively; Ba Lamin Sowe of Late Ebou Sowe FC is the most-promising player in the tournament; Mac Donold Uniited as Most Discipline team; and Lamin Sarr of Ngoyan FC became the most promising coach.

Earlier on Friday, Ngoyan FC defeated Late Ebou Sowe 1-0 in the Bayba Financial Services sponsored knockout competition in a game played at the Banjul KG5 Mini-Stadium.

In the knockout Ngoyan FC were presented a giant trophy and a cash prize of D35, 000, while the runners-up Late Ebou Sowe pocketed D25, 000.

Speaking to sports journalists in a post-match interview, Lamin Sarr, head coach of Ngoyan expressed delight for collecting both trophies, saying that his team really fought for it.  He went on to say that it is the first time his team won a trophy since 2008 when they joined the Banjul Nawettan.

“We have always been aiming to get this much in Banjul but I believe this is our time and we have definitely broken a record in Banjul Nawettan,” Sarr said, while vowing to maintain the spirit next season.

His counterpart Hatib Koromaon expressed  disappointment but promised a different result come 2017.

bySaffiatou Colley

The Bakau Newtown-based team, Luniburg FC are the kings of Bakau Nawettan this season following their double crowns in both the MSTE-sponsored league and B4U Properties-sponsored knockout tournaments over Mamakoto FC and Oslo FC respectively.

Luniburg FC on Friday claimed championship of Bakau B4U Properties sponsored knockout competition after defeating Mamakoto 3-1 in the regulation time. BakaryJarju opened the scoring for the Luniburg FC side in two minutes before going into the break, while Mamakoto’s  Amadou Demba restored parity after the break.

Coming into the second half, Luneburg continued with their fine form when Ousman Senghore and Sheriff Camara’s goals in the 67th and 75th minutes respectively gave their side a convincing victory.

A day after celebrating their knockout triumph, Luniburg FC were also crowned champions of theMSTE-sponsored league tournament following 2-0 defeat over Oslo FC in an encounter played at the Independence Stadium, Bakau.

BakaryJarju and Ebrima Jatta’s goals in the 19th and 57th minutes were enough to make them the kings of Bakau Nawettan 2016 after showing very respectable performances since the start of the Nawettan.

As winners Luniburg FC went home with a giant trophy in both the league and knockout with  cash prizes of D20,000 in the knockout tournament and D35, 000 for the league tournament, while the runners-up Mamakoto FC were given a consolation prize of D15, 000 in the knockout tournament and D25, 000 to Oslo FC for the league tournament.

by Alhagie Babou Jallow

Black Star FC on Saturday clinched theBrufut league title after defeating Justice Stars FC 2-0, in a game played at the Brufut Lower Basic football field.

The first half show was a bit lackluster as both sides were only cohesive at the back meticulously studying each other’s attacks. The best moment of the game came when Lamin Bojang of Black Stars FC scored for his side in the 12th minute, while striker Alieu Jarju curled a left-footed effort into the back of the net resulting in a convincing win for the champions Balck Stars FC in the 45th minute of the second half.

Justice Stars FC played very well but Black Stars FC proved too strong for them.

As winners, Black Star FC were awarded a giant trophy and a cash prize of D30,000, while runners-up Justice Stars FC pocketed a consolation prize of D20,000.

Speaking in an interview with reporters shortly after the final whistle, SalifuBojang, head coach of Black Star FC, expressed delight for winning the final, nothing that it was a good match, as both teams made a respectable performance.

However, Saikou Ceesay, head coach of Justice Stars FC, was quite disappointed for losing the final, blaming the central referee for denying them a penalty.

by HadangDaffeh

The Gambia Karate Federation has returned from Bamako, Mali where it participated in the 22nd Zone 2 Karate Championships held from the 22nd – 25th September 2016

The event saw the participation of 5 of the member Zone 2 countries namely: The Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea Conakry and Sierra Leone.

The three member countries that did not attend were Cape Verde, Mauritania and Guinea Bissau.

The 2-days event was highlighted by a daily cacophony of huge fanfare in support of the host country Mali, who exuded an abundance of cultural activity in colorful fashion.

The Gambian contingent comprised of the President, Technical Director, Referee Chairman, Assistant Referee, Medic and Two Athletes.

The two athletes were warded with 2 bronze medals for Kumite and Kata in the individual athlete challenge competitions. In the same vein, the Technical Director who doubles as the coach also passed the coach’s examination and was awarded the zonal coach Licence. All others received certificates of participation.

“Two Bronze Medals and a Coach Certification, though an achievement but meager; we are of the conviction that we can do much better next time around, having seen and assessed the situations on the ground. We crave the indulgence of Government to assist us with a 20 -25-seater bus, 30 track suits and some little financial assistance for the next 23rd Edition of the Zone 2 Championships to be held in Conakry in March 2017,” said Gambia Karate President Ahmed D Jack

Finally, the draw was done for the Championships for the next four years with Guinea hosting the 23rd edition in March 2017 and All African Championships. May 2017 in Bamako. Sierra Leone was identified to host the 24th Edition Zone 2 Championships March 2018, while The Gambia will host the 25th Edition Zone 2 Championships March 2019.

by Fatou Trawally

Gamtel/Gamcel male volleyball team earned an imposing lead in the 2016 volleyball standings following their victory on Saturday against Brikama. The Lamin Suwareh side beat a resolute Brikama side 3-2 at Box Bar. In the opening set Gamtel pulled off great display but the young Brikama side stood firm in their blocks and spikes.

Determined to continue their good form from the first set, Brikama got off to an excellent start in the second set as well, racing into the lead at 2-0. However, Gamtel/cel continued to challenge their lead with their fierce spikes, and they managed to reduce the lead to a draw at 4-4. Brikama followed up with relentless play by Mario Dampha and Barry, as well as Barrow, who made it difficult for the Gamtel/cel players to score. Mario, in particular, repeatedly evaded the visitors’ best  defence and allowed the host to regain their lead at 8-6.

While the Sateba boys attempted to create multiple options for setting of the ball, they faced difficulties in overcoming an improved Gamtel/cel defence who continued to block and played efficient counter-attacks. The comeback made by Gamtel/cel continued till the first timeout for the set, with Gamtel/cel having the score 11-8 in their favour. Gamtel/cel continued to advance, but Lamin Fatty’s men certainly did not give up on their chances and constantly encouraged each other after each point lost to the opponents. 2-1 they won in the third set.

Unfortunately, Gamtel/cel remained impressive in their offence and appeared to be in complete control, rallying for 6 straight points in the fourth set. The telecom giants were admittedly more consistent in their play, as they reached match point, and with Sanu’s spike deemed onside, Gamtel/cel closed out the spectacular battle in the fourth set.

Game tied at 2-2 all teams put great efforts in the fifth sets and Brikama took a commanding points lead, however the exuberance and aggressiveness couple with Sanu Secka’s attacking prowess ignited Gamtel/cel’s strength and they covered the set to win the game. In the female category match it was an easy tie for the visitors as they beat Brikama 3-0 on the same day at Box bar.

Source: GVBF Press Officer

 The 2016 BSC Nawettan has reached the semi-finals with Yundum-based Yarambamba in both the league and the knockout semi-finals and are hoping to repeat their 2013 season success of reaching both finals.

Last week, Yarambamba edged out Chimo in the league quarterfinal and over the weekend they sent packing Greater Tomorrow out of the knock-out in a fascinating encounter on Sunday.

At 3pm knockout quarterfinal battle, Alfama continued making history by beating Gidda Youths 1-0 courtesy of Karim Sambou.

In the other knock-out quarterfinal played on Saturday at 3 pm, Orlando defeated Tallibi  fc 5-3 on post-match penalty shoout-out following a 1-1 draw. At 5pm, Dangam defeated Fortune 1-0.

Meanwhile, the knockout semi-finals will be played after the 2016 Super nawettan as Dangam will face Alfama, while Orlando will play against Yarambamba.

The league semi-final will be played today (Wednesday) between Greater Tomorrow and Yarambamba and tomorrow (Thursday)  between Jaliba and Fortune.

by Muhammed Lamin Drammeh

Following the recent violent conduct by the fans and players of Sateba United in the Lamin Nawettan, the Chairman of the Lamin Sports Committee has revealed that the matter is now being handled by the police.

The fans and players of Sateba United vandalised and dismantled the Lamin Football field, resulting in the call-off of the nawettan till further notice.

In an exclusive interview with Observer Sports, the Chairman of the Lamin Sports Committee, Pa Modou Faal stated that their wish was to play the Lamin Nawettan and end it peacefully, but as he puts it “it is rather unfortunate that the issue of Sateba United has made us to suspend the Lamin Nawettan because of what they did to the football field.”

According to him, the issue started when one of the Sateba United fans threw sand to one of the match officials during their game against Kombo Kerewan in the quarterfinal stages of the Knockout tournament, which makes them (referees) to call off the match, adding that their committee acted based on the referees’ reports during that match.

“We forfeited three points and two goals from Sateba United team because of what they did to referees in their game against Kombo Kerewan in the quarterfinal game of the knockout tournament. The issue of dismantling our football pitch has been handed over to the police,” he revealed.

The Lamin Zone boss expressed dissapointment with the unruly behaviour of Sateba, saying Lamin Nawettan football does not call for hooliganism.

Despite calling off the Nawettan for the meantime, he said his zone is preparing well for the Super Nawettan that will kick start next Saturday between defending champions Serrekunda West and Brikama at the Independence Stadium.

by Binta Bah &

 Binta Jammeh