A goal in each half earned Gambia an upset 2-1 win over visiting Sierra Leone in their international football friendly played last night at the Independence Stadium, Bakau.  Wallidan’s new revelation, Momodou Lamin Sillah, opened the scoring for the Scorpions after just 2 minutes, before the Norwegian-based midfielder, Ebrima Sohna, struck in the 51 minutes to extend the hosts’ grip on the tie. The Lone Stars pulled a consolation in the 87 minutes when Alex Sesay made it a late brace scoring  Sierra Leone’s only goal of the day. 

The Scorpions, buoyed up by the enthusiastic home crowd, undoubtedly dominated match, but the final minutes saw a better Sierra Leone side.

The Gambia presented a mixture of home-based and overseas players in the friendly that marked the start of Scorpions’ preparations for the 2010 South Africa World Cup qualifiers, commencing in May 2008.

Speaking to Observer Sports shortly after the match, coach Lamin Sarr expressed delight at the victory, noting that he was pleased with the performance of his side. He said more of such friendly is needed to better prepare the Scorpions ahead of the 2010 World Cup qualifier campaign.

His Sierra Leonean counterpart, coach Mohamed Kanu, said: "The Gambia were up early and we were never really in the match. We knew the start of each half was important, but they got us. We improved in the second half and held on to the ball better, but it was not to be.”

“Nonetheless, I am still at a trial stage where I am trying to know the strength of my players as a new coach. So it was not a bad game,” he told Observer Sports.