Gambia hold Senegal in friendly

The Gambia national U17 team were yesterday held to a pulsating 1-1 draw by Senegal's national U17 team at the Independence Stadium as part of both teams' build-up to the final rounds of the African U17 qualifiers.

The Baby Scorpions, who got off to a slow start to the game, were made to fight for an equaliser after falling one nil behind, thanks to Senegal's Ibrahim Drammeh's solo effort in the 23rd minute, following a defensive blunder by Lamin Gibba.

Moments later the two times African U17 champions made a remarkable recovery when Steve Biko's combative midfielder Fabakary Bojang put the Baby Scorpions back into the game in the 25th minute with a powerful left booted strike from a long range effort to the delight of the few Gambians who attended the game.Captain Buba Jallow could have sealed the victory for the Gambian side, who were awarded a penalty when Omar Bojang was pulled down by Senegal's goalkeeper Papa Samba Jallow, but his weak effort was tipped away by the goalkeeper.

The friendly is part of both teams' preparations for the final rounds of the U17 qualifiers.

The Gambia will leave Banjul on Tuesday to face Tunisia in their first leg of the final round of the qualifying campaign, while Senegal will take a long journey to Accra, Ghana, where they will face an uphill task of achieving the desired result in a crucial weekend encounter.

"We came here to test ourselves ahead of a crucial match against Ghana and I am proud to say that the Gambian team has given us a good taste with a wonderful match today," said the Senegalese coach after the game.