By Momodou Jarju
Photo: Real De Banjul celebrate as they beat defending champions, Fortune FC, in the opening fixtures of the First Division league. (Photo culled from GFF website)
The Gambia’s national football league is in full swing. The Division One is the country’s premier football tournament where 16 teams square off to battle for the championship crown. Two games have been played by each team so far in the 2021-2022 season.
Last year’s winner, Fortune FC, are currently languishing in the bottom half of the table in the relegation zone, with only a point while conceding four goals and scoring just one.
Two greatest league clubs- Wallidan and Real de Banjul- are joint-league hunters, securing four points out of a possible six.
Five teams- Wallidan, Waa Banjul, Team Rhino, GAF, and Brikama United- are yet to concede a goal. Wallidan, Waa Banjul, and GAF are joint-leaders with Real de Banjul, Falcons and Hawks on four points each.
Team Rhino and Brikama United avoided conceding in both of their matches despite failing to score against their opponents to secure two points out of a possible six.
Elite United took 2nd place last season. They occupied the 8th spot out of two matches, followed by Marimoo who occupied the same spot last season.
Gamtel, who took 10th position last season occupied 7th place and GPA who took 6th place the previous season occupied the 12th position.
Banjul United, a team that battled out of the relegation zone last season to secure the 11th place, occupied the bottom spot on the table without a point.
Promoted Teams’ Performance
Last season, the second division’s champions, Falcons, started strong. Out of two games played, they are joint table leaders. Samger, who took second place in the second division last season, sit in 13th position with a point and conceding two goals.
Team Rhino and Steve Biko were the teams that qualified to the first division through the playoffs. While the former avoided defeat in their first two marches, the latter collected a point out of a possible six and sipped in three goals.
Next Games
Games for the third matches will start this weekend. There are three games on Friday: Falcons Vs Samger at the Late Ousman Saho Field at 4 pm, Steve Biko Vs GAF and Marimoo Vs Fortune, both games to be played at the Independence Stadium at 8 pm and 10 pm respectively.
Another three games will take place on Saturday: Elite United will face GPA in the afternoon kick off at the Late Ousman Saho Field at 4 pm, while Wallidan Vs Brikama United and Waa Banjul Vs Banjul United will be played at the Independence Stadium at 8 pm and 10 pm respectively.
The final day of the weekend, Sunday, will witness two games as Gamtel take on Real de Banjul at 6 pm and Hawks log horns with Team Rhino at 8 pm. Both games will be played at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
