By Sulayman Bah
Gambia U-20s are a foot from reaching the group stage of the Zambia African Youth Championship after beating 
Morocco by a lone goal.
Despite the absence of two key players, Mohamed El Bouazzati with Borussia Dortmund and Achraf of Real Madrid, it took Gambia a long time to break down the visitors’ pockets of resistance.
And goal by Pa Omar Jobe was all it took to do the damage. The towering spaghetti-legged front-man is proving a goal sensation for the U-20s.
Against Sierra Leone he got his name scribbled on the score sheet and on Saturday was gaffer Omar Sise’s go-to man, making a follow-up to the ball before heading pass a stunned Moroccan goalkeeper in the first-half.
The scorpions held onto their fragile lead but saw their free flowing passing play dwindled in the second period with the Moroccans scuffing threatening shots into the Gambian defence in a duel that captain Abdoulie Jallow starred as the home side’s best player on the pitch.
Gambia now needs to hold on to the current score in the return leg in Casablanca to qualify for finals in Lusaka.
