By Yankuba Jallow
Established in the year 2012, Chelsea FC over the weekend beat Gunners FC to claim its first ever Penyem Sports Committee tournament trophy.
The Blues clinched the title on penalties after a goalless draw in regular time in what was a rematch meeting after their group stage fixture also ended in a stalemate. This was the first final for both teams.
Eight clubs participated in the 2018/19 ‘tournament’ which saw the mighty clubs Brazil, Orlando and others failing to make it to the finals after dominating Penyem ‘nawettan’ for so many years.
Coach Omar Drammeh of Chelsea said they have been working hard to grab the trophy.
“We decided that we were going to win this year’s trophy since the day the draw was made. We trained every day at 3 pm. We are the fittest team in the tournament there is no doubt about that,” the coach explained.
He expounded that he motivated his boys to train hard every day and each match he played, he ensures that the boys had everything they needed.
In his post-match reaction, Gunners’ coach Dawda Nyassi said he has used his second team against the winners and that resulted in his defeat.
“Six of my key players did not come for the match due to their engagement at their work places. We could have beaten them but luck was not on our side. Even with my second team, they couldn’t win in the match,” he said.
He stated that since Saturday’s game was their first ever final, it would serve as a learning point for them to prepare for future finals.
“When we are coming next time, we will come with an unstoppable force and no team will be able to deny us the championship,” he said.
Youngest Best Player Award was given to Malang Badjie of Chelsea FC, Top Scorer was given to Modou Nyassi of Chelsea FC (with 4 goals), Best Goalkeeper went to Dembo Colley of the Gunners FC and Best Player Award was scooped by Ebrima Nyassi of Chelsea FC.
The winners went home with cash of D3000 with a trophy and the runners-up received D2000.
The Secretary-General to the Sports Committee, Seedy Nyassi said the next step for the Committee is for the community team to participate in the female GFF- division qualifiers. He said the village’s football over the years has improved to another level.
‘We have aim of nurturing talents in the village through sports. We have both male and female teams and we are ready to expose our talents and we are hopeful of making Penyem a footballing community.
‘We participated in the Brikama ‘nawettan’ qualifiers last year and we lost on our final match by 1-0. We are trying our best to form a team that can take up the challenge to help us qualify,’ he said.
The tournament was sponsored by John and sharon family Northampton Trustee Fund.
