The annual Nawettan tournament is a well-contested and competitive championship featuring teams from around the communities staging the event.

Being so far the only tournament that gives members of the community a sense of belonging and zeal to troop in numbers to Nawettan playing grounds to support their teams, it is always much awaited by commuters as in the case of Serrkunda West. This is one of the major Nawettan centres in the country.

The Serrkunda West championship which kicked off over the week and looks like the place to be over the weekend as very interesting and appetising matches are expected to take place.

As part of the group matches of the weekend encounters of the  Serrekunda West  Nawettan, Saalbi will meet Gamstar on Friday.

Other interesting encounters will include Pipeline against Ajax Saturday morning.  Super cup champions, Tigers will meet Ngoyan in the mid afternoon encounter.  Kanifing United, defending champions of the League, will clash with the Ebo-town side, Unicorns, later in the evening.

On Sunday, Jollof will meet Old Hand at 9am and newcomer’s Cambell town will meet the formidable Gintos FC at 3pm.  Gintos grabbed a 2-1 victory over Luzan in the opening of the group matches.

Kanifing Estate will take on Jeshwang United at 5pm.

The speaker of the National Youth Parliament (NYP) honourable Lamin F. Bojang left the country over the weekend for the United States of America.

The youth parliament speaker will take part in the 5th Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations in New York.

The weeklong gathering to be held form the 11th to 15th August 2008 and will bring together young people from across the world. The theme of the youth gathering is “Today’s Leaders Today”. The forum is meant to educate young people about the UN, issues and how they can also contribute to maintaining world peace. During the course of his stay in the US the youth parliament speaker will hold donor discussions with various organisations.

Honourable Bojang is expected back on 22nd August.

The Jamaican reggae celebrity, Richey Spice has arrived in the country to perform a weekend celebration of music.

He will be performing live at the Independence Stadium on Saturday.   

Spice is well loved by many across the world for a number of reasons among them his sonorous voice, insightful and inspiring lyrics and activism.

He is also well known for his latest single which includes the line, “as a man you must always be solid as a rock, never ever say no. Keep the fire burning.”

According to reports reaching The Point, the spectacular reggae night will commence at 9 p.m. to be attended reggae lovers from all over the country. Those in attendance are promised a feast of music and dance.

This paper was informed that under the stewardship of Olimatta Taal all protocols to stage groundbreaking gigs featuring the Jamaican reggae artist have been met. Spice, alongside his internationally renowned band, is ready to go.

The opening game, played between Sabi Village football team and Security forces ended2-1 in favoured of Sabi.In the second encounter, Manju defeated Angal Futa 2-0.

Other teams participating in the tournament include, Canno, Rising Stars, Musa Molloh, Gamcot Young Cluster, T-junction, Manchester United, Deco and Basse United, MRC, Alunhari Scorpions and Kansala.

Football enthusiasts in Brikama will converged at the Cannan Multi-purpose Centre on Friday August 15th2008 to witness the 2008 Brikama super cup final between league champions Berewuleng FC and Darugift sponsored by Western Union.

League champions Jazz FC and knockout winners Banda Bi will also contest in the Bakau super cup final on Friday.

Meanwhile, Late Pa Jobe clinched the 2008 Gunjur Nawettan tournament after defeating Gepadg FC 2-1.

In the results of other matches played over the weekend, Gamcel defeated Madina United 1-0, Ouchapola drew 1-1 with Nas FC. Nyokoyors beat Jannekoto FC 2-1.

The Late Lamin Manneh Memorial Tournament sponsored by Jean and Biram Manneh ended last weekend at Lamin Village with Out Law Boyz out beating Bakau Youths by two goals to nil.

Jim Hadim nodded in the opener midway into the game after receiving a cross from teammate Ramis Colley and eluding his maker to put the ball in between the open hands of Bakau Youths goalkeeper Yaya Sidibeh. The Bakau Youths were not to be cowed by the goal and noise emanating from the crowd of the Lamin Out Law Boyz supporters as they surged forward for an equaliser on numerous occasions only for defender Pa Aliue Mboge to quell every attack of theirs.

As tension was mounting from the attacks and counter attacks by both teams, tempers flared up only for 18 players to remain in the game at the last whistle. Both teams lost two players due to unsporting behaviour with the always smiling referee Noah Manneh stamping his authority at each given time.

Barely five minutes to the end of the game, the provider of the first goal, Ramis Colley, blasted in a left footed cracker from the 18 yard line to bring the curtain down and earn his team the much needed victory in the first ever Lamin Manneh Memorial Tournament. The organisers have vowed to hold the tournament annually.

The Late Lamin Manneh who was the bread winner after the death of his father in October last year was in his mid twenties before he met his untimely death in a tragic car accident along the Coastal Road on the 22nd May 2008. He passed away at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital on Monday 25th May. He was the son of the late Dodou Manneh and Sirreh Bojang, sister of the GFA Secretary General Jammeh EK Bojang who was one of the dignitaries that graced the occasion. Jean Manneh, who organised the event, thanked all those who contributed in one way or another to make the tournament a success. She extolled the unflinching support of his brother in the UK, David Trylen, who sponsored the Trophy and Medals as well as Yaya Manneh, who co-ordinated the whole tournament.

The match officials that will be officiating The Gambia and Mauritania U-20 game as part of the qualifying rounds of the 16th African Youth Championship in 2009 in Rwanda to be played on Saturday June 28 in Banjul were expected to arrive in Banjul last evening.

According to Seedy Mb Kinteh, President of The Gambia Football Association, the referees that will officiate the first leg match are from Sierra Leone while the match commissioner is Senegalese.

As part of their preparatory efforts, the FA staged a friendly international between The Gambia U-20 team with that of Senegal last Sunday in Banjul and the team trashed their counterparts 3-0.The Gambia youth team put up a very good performance during the last African and World Youth championships and were the African bronze medallists in Congo.

The winner between The Gambia and Mauritania is expected to meet Ghana or Libya in the final stages of the Qualifiers.

The Head Coach of The Gambia’s U-20 team will name his 18-man squad today ahead of the weekend friendly game against Senegal sponsored by Africell.

Coach Lorenzo Robbinaci, speaking to Pointsports, yesterday, at their training ground, said his selection process would depend on players’ performance.

He stated that the team is well prepared for the friendly game as part of their preparation for the African Youth Championship in 2009.

He called on all Gambians to come out massively and cheer on the boys on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the U-20 team of Senegal is expected to arrive in Banjul on Fridayto take on The Gambia’s U-20 side in the Africell sponsored international friendly match at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

The team is expected to be camped at the Paradise Suites Hotel.

The match will prepare The Gambia’s U-20 team who will be locking horns with Mauritania in Banjul on June 28, 2008, as part of the African Youth Championship qualifiers.

Ahead of the encounter, foreign-based Gambian players have been invited by the FA.

The tickets for the match are as follows; VIP D300, Covered and Uncovered pavilions are pegged at D50 and D25 respectively

The President of The Gambia Football Association Seedy MB Kinteh, has described the Gambian team as well prepared to face their immediate neighbours Senegal on Sunday at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

He said though it would not be an easy game, the team had trained hard and coupled with the high motivation and encouragement given to players anything is possible at the end of the 90 minutes of play.

Seedy revealed that the match referees will come from South Africa and the match commission will arrive from Morocco.  He said, “ FIFA has appointed a security officer from Nigeria for the game.”

Commenting on the visit of the Senegalese delegation who were in Banjul two weeks ago Seedy said both parties had a fruitful meeting and went home with something to deliver to our people so that we know how to prepare ourselves.

He added that,” The Gambia and Senegal are all the same family and must not allow the game of football to send us apart”.

He called on Gambian supporters to exercise patience and come out in numbers to support the national team and avoid anything that will affect the team or affect GFA tomorrow.

Modou Gaye, GFA/FIFA Security officer speaking to Pointsports, said all security arrangements have been made for the match. He said that Gambia’s games are being monitored as Algeria has launched a complaint against us and our game with Senegal should be violence free or else our matches will taken to another country, which is not good for the country.

“We should learned from our lessons as due to the problem we had with the Algerian team the last time, we were fined so many dollars and we lost some of our key players who could have been featured in our crucial matches,” he pointed out.

He said for security reasons, the Senegalese supporters have been allocated the Score Board Pavilion and gate for entry into stadium.