According to Foroyaa Sports, eight coaches (among them former Under-20 coach, Peter Bonu Johnson) have applied for the managerial position of the Gambia Ports Authority FC that is currently occupied by caretaker coach, Faraba Fofana.

Fofana took over the post mid-way during last season’s campaign shortly after the dismissal of coach Ebrima Cham.

As the club prepares to taste life in the second tier of Gambian football next season, appointing a seasoned coach remains a top priority and Peter Bonu, according to reports, remains the favourite to capture the seemingly hot seat.

Sources have it that Coach Johnson, who earlier this year resigned as assistant coach to Gambia Scorpions, was on the verge of landing a two-year deal with the Ferry Boys but the club search team’s failure to meet his demand rocked the negotiation.

“He was offered a lucrative [deal] but he asked for more which seemed high for management. If no breakthrough is [made], an alternative coach or Faraba (the current coach) will continue with the team,” the highly placed sources told Foroyaa Sports.

Other applicants for the job include current Gamtel boss Alhagie Sillah, Ebrima Manneh of relegated Interior FC, Kebba Ceesay, vice-chairman of the GFA technical committee, and Sira Ndoye, former Real de Banjul coach amongst others.

The top two teams in The  Gambia Football Association Second Division will clash today in the week 14 fixtures at Serrekunda East.

Brikama United, who are leading the table so far with 25 points, and their nearest contender Talinding United, at 24 points, are expected to put up a tough fight today. A win for Talinding will see them take over the leadership while Brikama might also have the opportunity to increase their lead.

Another interesting encounter will feature second to last position holders Ham Ham, on 15 points, who will take on mid table occupants the Young Africans who share the same points with Kaira Silo both are on 17 points.

Last evening as we went to press, Flamemins were taking on Serrekunda East, Jambanjelly and Kaira Silo were also locking horns at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

 Starlight and Nema United also meet at the Serrekunda West.

Meanwhile, Pointsports has been reliably informed that the preliminaries for the  FA Cup Draw will take place on  Saturday July 19th 2008 at the Serrekunda Mini-Stadium.

Fixtures of the Second Division Week 15

Sat 19/07/08 Flamemins Vs Jambanjelly   S/k West

Sat 19/07/08   Star light Vs S/Kunda East  S/k East

Sat 19/07/08  T /United Vs Nema United Stadium

Sun 20/07/08  Brikama United Vs Young Africans  S/k  East

Sun 20/07/08  Ham Ham Vs Kaira Silo   S/k West

Following his team’s uninspiring performance against Wallidan, the newly-crowned 2007/08 GFA league champions, the head coach of the Red Devils of Hawks, Sang Ndong, has told reporters that his side didn’t deserve to win in their match against Wallidan on Sunday 13th July 2008.

Coach Ndong told reporters, “ as I said before it would not be an easy game, and we lost to a far better team.”  He stated that football is always decided on the day; performance depends on the mood and the advance preparation of your team. He went on, “we were very prepared but unfortunately things didn’t work for our side and everything worked on Wallidan’s;  we have to congratulate them for a well-deserved victory. They played extremely well and won.”

In his reaction to the team’s victory the head coach of Wallidan, Foday Bah, said that he was very happy because for the past 2 years they have not been able to take the league despite all efforts and high expectations. He added, “ we were well prepared for the game against Hawks because we know how they play and how they think, so we worked very hard for the past weeks for our game against Hawks, and the players applied everything that I told them, and that’s why we achieved this victory. “ The Hawks defence are very confident and I told my players about it that we have to put pressure on them and that’s what brought our two goals,” he said.

Coach Foday said that the team would be well prepared  for the championship, emphasizing, “ football now is a business and we have very young talented players who want to attain professional status and are willing to deliver,” he stated.

Akinrinola Akintoye, a Nigerian national, was yesterday convicted by the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court for printing false documents thereby flouting section 324 of the criminal code. He had pleaded guilty to the offence.

The less blunt Nigerian, while docked before Principal Magistrate Buba Jawo, was sentenced to a fine of D15,000 in default to serve 18 months in prison.

According to the details of the case, Mr. Akintoye received the wrath of the law for printing dubious documents (tickets) during The Gambia and Senegal CAF qualifiers in Banjul in June 2008.

Before the passing of the sentence Lawyer Cuimel appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy as the convict is a first offender. He pleaded for the court to hand down a short sentence as since committing the offence the offender has served enough time to qualify as punishment.