The league champions of the 1st division league of the Gambia Football Association (GFA), the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), on 22 January 2011 drew 0-0 with Casa Sport of Ziguinchor, a first division league team from
The game was part of the Gambia Ports Authority's preparations for the first leg of the CAF Champions League Qualifier away to Jarraf of Senegal later this month.
The keenly contested encounter showed both teams put up brilliant performance and wonderful talents during the game but could not break the deadlock.
Fansu Simaka, David Sambou, Babucar Juwara and Kabba Bah all had chances to register their names on the score sheet for the Gambia Ports Authority but failed to materialise their opportunities, while Assane Drame and Aloise Thiaw both had chances to break the deadlock for Casa Sports but could not also capitalise on their chances.
Casa Sport were reduced to ten men in the 58th minute of the game when Assane Drame was sent off after he was shown a second bookable offence.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the game, the head coach of the Gambia Ports Authority, Peter Bonu Johnson, said the game was part of preparations for their CAF Champions League Qualifiers game against Jarraf.
The friendly game was meant to give them a taste of the way the Senegalese team play, Mr Johnson said, adding that last year they lost both legs of the qualifiers to Casa Sport but have rectified those mistakes to put up a respectable performance this time around.
Bonu also said the game had given his players "big motivation" for the trip to the Jarraf game. "That was why I gave all my players on the bench the chance to feature during the game to have a taste of international football."
Atanas Tendeng, head coach of Casa Sport, said the reason for the friendly game was to give the Gambia Ports Authority a better preparation for their game against Jarraf, adding that the game was equally important to them because next week they will be having a very important league game.
He stated that last year when they eliminated the Gambia Ports Authority in the qualifiers of the CAF Champions League they went up to the final where they were defeated by a Nigerian team.
