Real de Banjul gaffer Ebou Jarra feels his side’s 1-0 defeat to Fortune at the weekend was by misfortune after a ‘defensive error’ gave the hosts all three points and succumbed the City Boys to its first loss of the season.

The City Boys created decent goal scoring chances and defended well until the unfortunate error in defence gave the Petroleum Boys all three points in match-day three of the Gambia Football Federation league season in a game played at the National Technical Training Center in Yundum.

“I believe it was luck on the side of Fortune FC and they also played well. It was their home and we lost three points there, now, we make sure that during the season if we lost two or three points against them, we come back and win them when we host them at our own home. It’s been tough and they were fortunate to score that goal which came thanks to a defensive error, but so be it,” Jarra said of the defeat.

Jarra also believes the missed chances in front of the goal played a part in his side’s defeat saying: “We had a couple of chances in the first half but we didn’t make them count, so one simple mistake that’s very costly, cost us the game. So we have to swallow the bitter pill and continue working on the pitch. The right pass, at the right place and the right execution going into the net, is what I call luck and does not happen this time. So, the boys will learn from that.”

The gaffer also remains humble and accepted the loss with good faith saying: “There’s no team that doesn’t lose matches, we lost a game, we don’t like it and it’s sad but nothing to apologize for we just have to continue working.”

“We did beat two teams before we lost today, so it’s their (Fortune FC) turn to celebrate today. Last season we beat them at our ground and this season they beat us at their ground, for us that is something we accept. The first defeat in many months hopefully that is not going to continue or it’s going to be our last loss of the season.”

The Head Coach gave his support to the players and said they will go back to the drawing board and address the issues of the game in training.

“We’ll address it with the boys and make sure that when we go on the training ground, we do not slaughter anybody. Trust me, it’s going to be fun on Monday like we normally do, address the issue on Tuesday, and continue building for the next match against the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF). Every match is different, this one is gone. We cannot bury their heads.”

Jarra and his charges will hope to bounce back when they return to home action by hosting GAF on Saturday, the 6th February, after playing two straight away games.