By Omar Jatta
Hawks FC Have arrived on home soil following their heroics in the first leg of their 2018 CAF Confederation Cup preliminary qualifiers in Nigeria, where they came out on top with a 2-1 away victory over Nigerian League leaders, Akwa United of Uyo, Awka Ibom state.
The last season GFF Cup winners arrived home in high spirit and they have widely applauded by Gambian fans, home and abroad for their gutsy performance at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium last sunday, where they kicked of their campaign in style, with goals from Muhammed Jallow and Lamin Chatty securing the priceless victory.
Ansumana Fatty’s men were billed as massive underdogs prior to the game, and thus the result sent shock waves around the continent. Its worth noting that the odds were highly stacked against them as Abdu Maikaba’s men are the current league leaders in the NPFL (Nigerian Professional Football League), with a 23 game unbeaten home record in the NPFL and the defeat was their first at home in all competitions this season.
The Promise Keepers as they are called, started the game well, dominating possession from the onset, but were undone by the ruthless finishing of the visiting Gambian side, who were very sharp on the break and it seemed their time spent watching series of videos of the Awka side, as described by the club’s Secretary General Sadibou Kamaso, had paid off.
It took only 13mins to break the deadlock through Muhammed Jallow from a set piece and it didn’t take long before Lamin Chatty curled in a half-volley from 20 yards beyond goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo’s reach to give his side a two goal cushion, with only 35 minutes played in the opening half. The first was a shocker but the second happened to be a sucker punch, and from then on, it dawned on the watching Akwa fans that the Hawks were not in town to curl up and get beaten, and they were by no means seeking for a draw either, but rather a victory and all three points to take into the return leg in Banjul on February 21st at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
Hawks stood their ground despite the late surge from the Nigerians, who threw everything at them in their search to reduce the deficit before the halftime break, but their efforts end in futility as they went into the break 2 goals down.
They returned form the break with more purpose and fought tooth and nail to overturn the result, laying a late siege in the Hawks half. However the Gambians maintained thesame spirit of character, determination and purpose, with their Goalkeeper Yankuba Colley making some brilliant saves including the full stretch save from Michael Ibe’s low shot in the 48th minute.
The host finally broke the visitors’ resistance in 72nd minute from Victor Mbaoma’s tap in a from close range, to force the game into a nervy ending for the Gambian lads, who are back in the competition for the first tin 11 years, where they were knocked out in the last 32 in 2007 by another Nigerian side, Dolphin FC of Port Haccourt.
The team have now have arrived back in the Gambia on Tuesday afternoon, and they will now have to embrace themselves for another epic dwell when the Promise Keepers visit Banjul in a week’s time, and their goal scorer Mbaoma, who is on loan at the club from Nigerian second tier side, Remo Stars, is quoted to have said his team will turn up differently in Banjul and he is confident they can secure a win against their opponents in the return fixture.
“It’s a shame we lost the game despite the effort we put in. I believe things would have been different if we had converted the chances we created,” Mbaoma told CSN.
“The fans too are really disappointed but we believe there is still a lot to play for. They beat us here and we can do the same thing to them in Banjul.
“We just have to believe in ourselves and hope luck smiles on us at the end of the game.”
