Soma Newtown FC were on Friday crowned champions of the Lamin Kinteh memorial football tournament in Jarra-Pakalinding Village in the Lower River Region (LRR) after beating Kinteh’s Eleven FC of Jarra Kanni Kunda 2-1, in the final.
The final was played at the community’s football field and was graced by the U-20 Coach Omar Sise, Gamtel and Steve Biko coaches, Tapha Manneh and Abdoulie Bojang respectively.
When the tournament, the 3rd edition, kicked off last September, it involved 19 teams from various villages in Jarra West.
The final was heavily contested by both teams, with Kinteh’s Eleven FC opening the scoring through Kajali Dembelly in the 18th minute. Howeer their hope for victory came to an end after Omar Jammeh and Malang Manneh scored in the 41st and 81st minutes to give Soma Newtown FC the victory.
As winners, Soma Newtown FC went home with a giant trophy, medals and a cash prize of D30, 000, while Kinteh’s Eleven FC pocketed home D15, 000 and medals.
There was another package for the leading goal scorer, Buba Jorbateh of Kinteh’s Eleven FC, who was warded D5, 000; Musa Ceesay of Misera FC pocketed D5, 000 as the best goalkeeper and Pakaya Saidykhan also bagged D5, 000 as the best player.
Speaking in an interview shortly after the game, the head coach of Soma Newtown FC, Buba Fadera said that since the commencement of the tournament, his team had been training even during Ramadan, and that it is not surprising that they reclaimed the trophy for the second consecutive time.
However, Kinteh’s Eleven FC female head coach, Sarjo Saidykhan, could not speak understandably due to being overwhelmed by the loss.
by Salifu M .Touray in LRR