The Observer Company – the publisher of the Daily Observer Newspaper, will play in the final against The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in the ongoing National Inter-departmental Sports Association (NISA) football tournament, following a 1-0 defeat of The Gambia Police Force in a semifinal played on Sunday at the Serrekunda East Mini Stadium.
The match against the Aviation Authority would launch the Daily Observer as the first ever media house to play in the NISA football final, thus making the company prove its case that they are not only pen pushers, but effective sportsmen and women.
The game began in a slow pace with both teams trying to figure out a tactical approach to penetrate each other’s yard. However, after 10 minutes into the first half, the Observer team sent a wake-up signal to the Police by imposing attacking threats into their defence with series of counterattacks from tricky and fast flank players.
After 29 minutes of the game, Observer’s Lamin Bojang was brought to the ground, about 27 metres from the Police’s goal post. The resulting free kick taken by Mustapha Drammeh hit the underside of the cross bar and tapped into the net by Modou Ceesay, which sent the fans of the country’s media power house into jubilation.
The Police team tried to respond by puting up a fierce fight, but their efforts were denied by Muhammed Fatty, who remained superb between the sticks.
In the other semifinal, the GCAA drew goalless with the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) in regulation time; however, GCAA later won the game by 5-4 on a post-match penalty shoot-out.
Speaking to Observer Sports after the game, the head coach of Observer football team, Pa Modou Faal thanked his players and management of the company under the auspices of Momoodou Sabally, for supporting his team both morally and financially. Coach Faal added that his team is yearning for the trophy and, therefore, urged Observer, GRTS and the entire media fraternity to come and support the Observer team in the final.
On his part, the Head Coach of Police, Abdoulie Darboe, said his side got numerous chances, but squandered them, whereas Observer capitalised on theirs.
He hailed the Observer team for their respectable performance and urged them to work on their fitness level, saying the team has very good and talented players.
Darboe finally thanked the Inspector General of Police, the management and the fans for their support to the team.
by Lamin Bojang