Former Scorpions hitman ends Ashlem Loan Spell

Former Gambia’s Scorpions industrious forward Pa Amadou Daddy Gai has finally returned to Banjul after exhausting his one-year-loan deal with the Senegalese first division outfit in Dakar, Pointsport can reveal.

He is therefore under no illusion to make any risky decision on his next move.

The former Africell Saint Matty and Bakau United captain was sent to Senegal on a loan deal by his Banjul club Bakau United last February in a bid to revive his form and fitness after nearly a year without active football.

Daddy, who is compared to one-time Gambia’s Scorpions and Wallidan hottest striker Bai Omar Samba, has re-discovered his form and fitness since joining Ashlem, helping the club to finish 3rd place on the Senegalese top-tier league table with his magnificent goal-scoring record of seven in his first full season at the club.

He continued his impressive scoring run of fine form with Ashlem netting 7 goals in 13 league appearances in his second spell before calling time on his loan spell earlier this year.

But the technically gifted Gambia’s lanky attacker could do little to prevent Ashlem from enduring what looks like the club’s worst campaign in as many years, as they head towards relegation to the second tier of Senegalese football league although he last played for Ashlem back in February.

In a Marathon interview with Pointsport at his Bakau Newtown residence at the weekend, which also touches on different aspects of his playing career marked by some spectacular highs and dramatic lows, the former Gambian national U-17, U-20 and U-23 productive forward said: “I have come [back home] to end my one-year-loan spell with Ashlem in Senegal, which actually expired since 20th February 2010 but I still continued to train with the team to maintain my form and fitness.”

The former Vietnam Border forward sensation, who was hugely regarded by pundits as one of the most technically gifted strikers in Gambian football, added: “After the end of the loan deal, Ashlem spelled out their interest in extending the deal but I made it categorically clear to the club management that I want to move on with a bigger challenge - and hopefully I will play in Europe soon.”

Daddy, as he is affectionately called, began his career with Vietnam Border, then a famous Nawetan team in Bakau, way back in 1996 under the guidance of former manager Ebrima Jallow (E.B.), whom he said introduced him into the profession.

While at the club, he won his first trophy with Border a year after joining the Bakau Newtown outfit and his impressive form in the Nawetan paved the way for his involvement with the Gambia national U-17, U-23 and the senior national team and has since developed into a key figure in Gambian football.

Prior to this success, Daddy helped Bakau United to secure promotion to the Gambia Football Association first division having taken them from the 3rd division to the highest division during which time he also guided them to both the league and Super Cup successes with his impressive scoring techniques.

Pointsport will bring you more stories on Daddy Gai that touches on different aspects of his entire football career including some surprising revelations on the speculation that he has no ambition to play at the professional level.