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Gambia U-17 Prove Doubters Wrong In UK

Oct 16, 2009, 5:42 AM | Article By: Lamin Drammeh

As Team Recover From Two Disappointing Defeats

The Gambia National U-17 team that had received critical appraisal from many football pundits proved doubters wrong who have in several occasions questioned their capability to deliver or produce great results in the United Kingdom, following the exclusion of some star players from the previous side as they continued to produce wonderful results in their preparatory campaign ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria next weekend.

The side led a hard fought encounter and went away with a convincing 2-nil victory against Luton in London on Wednesday as part of their final warm-up game in the United Kingdom to confirm their consecutive win.

The two time Africa U-17 champions that left Banjul for an intensive three-week training camp in the United Kingdom a fortnight ago, began their preparatory programme with 2-nil and 5-nil defeats to America U-17 side that is also undergoing an intensive training camp in the build-up to the FIFA U-17 World Cup, but those results do not go down well with some fans in The Gambia, amidst speculations that they might face an early exit in the up-coming U-17 World Cup, due to the inexperience of some of the current squad members who were given their first U-17 call up. But the Darling U-17 side under the watchful eyes of the GFA supreme, Seedy M.B Kinteh who left the country on Tuesday to join the team in the U.K, celebrated a two-nil win against Luton, marking the end of their stay in the United Kingdom.

The rejuvenated Gambian side have registered an impressive scoring records after netting 11 goals in four consecutive games, despite conceding a total of 8 goals in the hands of America U-17 team as part of their opening two matches before conceding another goal from Charlton Academy, whom they defeated 5-one on Monday. This has given the Gambian football population something to be optimistic about in Nigeria.

But whether they can maintain this impressive and fantastic run of form of late remains to be seen.