Real de Banjul head coach Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko says he is sorry for his players because they deserved all three points in the derby against Wallidan that produced a 1-1 draw at the Live Your Dream Sports Academy on Friday. “I [kind of] feel sorry for the boys because they deserved the three points. I saw a good spirit. I saw a team that wanted to win. I saw a lot of positive things and I am really happy for the boys with the way they performed,” Zahovaiko said immediately after the game. The City Boys’ hope for the league’s first derby triumph was challenged when the visitors scrambled home an early opener before new-signing Ousman Kujabi equalized midway through the second half to salvage a point for Zahovaiko’s men. “The first half was really difficult, I think the weather was like 37 degrees. It’s not easy to play in those conditions but we tried. We knew that in the second half we could bring fresh legs and we did that. The first half was really difficult but we could’ve won the game especially in the second half.” He added: “The initiative was in our hands. We brought in some fresh legs who brought good energy for us in the second and Wallidan was struggling. So, we are a little bit disappointed of the result. I think we played a good match.” He rued his team’s finishing in the final third of the pitch saying: “I think we have to work on our finishing qualities, that’s the biggest problem at the moment! We are creating chances but we are not scoring,” Zahovaiko said before adding that “it’s a matter of time I believe, the medicine is just working hard in the training sessions.” The draw at home against our arch-rivals put the City Boys in second place, four points adrift of Fortune FC in the GFF League 2022/23 table standings after match-day four.

BY: Media Officer Foday Jatta Real de Banjul captain and goalkeeper Lamin Saidy says he and his teammates learned their lessons from the Greater Tomorrow draw to bounce back and secure a win over PSV Wellingara at the FIFA Goal Project in Yundum. “We have learned a lot from the draw against Greater Tomorrow and that helped us to win today,” Saidy in his post-match comments on Thursday. Gambia U-20 striker Abdoulie Baldeh scored the only goal of the game while keeper Saidy and his defense line contained the host at the back to keep a clean sheet. “It was an important victory for the team and a collective work to win all the three points. We have to win games to be on top,” the Real de Banjul captain said. The City Boys are known of keeping the ball as their playing identity and playing from behind is the sought-after modern day football approach and Saidy is challenging himself to that task even though some people deem the approach too risky. He said: “I respect the opinion of the fans and they’re just concerned which is normal. The coach (Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko) wants me to keep the ball. I do this in training and I have to show that here (in games). The coach has confidence in me to play like that, so I have to do it”. The head coach, Zahovaiko, meanwhile was pleased to see his side improve from the Greater Tomorrow stalemate. “I am happy that we did a good conclusion from the previous game. We really started well, we had the initiatives in our hands and we played much faster football. The opponent played good in defense but we tried and kept more intensive play,” the Estonian said. He added: “We had a really good movement from Abdoulie Baldeh and he received a really good and perfect pass from Yaya Bojang and the way Abdoulie scored, I think it will be enjoyable to watch many, many, times.” Slava made four changes to the team that started against Greater Tomorrow including the Gambia key players in The Gambia U20, stars, Alieu Gibba and Salifu Colley. “When our under 20 players cannot train with us the whole week it gives a negative impact to our game. So, I am responsible for the player’s health that was the reason two player (Gibba and Colley) could not start from the beginning, but I think the plan was okay. Baboucarr Jobe and Lay Colley are young and did they did what I asked them to do in the first half and somehow that was part of the plan”. The City Boys will now shift their attention to the first derby of the season as they will host Wallidan FC at the Live Your Dream Sports Academy on Friday, the 27th of January 2023.

BY: Media Officer Foday Jatta Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko challenges his players to adopt a better attitude after their frustrating draw against newly promoted Greater Tomorrow FC at home. The Estonian tactician led his City Boys to a flyer in their opening fixture of the GFF League Division One as they thrashed GAF 4-1 but endured a frustrating afternoon at the Live Your Dream Sports Academy on Saturday against Greater Tomorrow. The Whites may find themselves unfortunate not keep their perfect start after missing the opportunity to win with Modou Lamin Demba missing a penalty, Abdoulie Baldeh hitting the woodwork twice and Salifu Colley missing a last gap opportunity and a host of clear openings that came begging to no avail. “It’s good that these kind of things are happening in the beginning of the league because we can talk about the problems now but I think our biggest problem is the attitude. I think we didn’t came into the first half with the expected attitude. There’s no easy wins. This kind of expectation has to stop. We need to bring our attitude to another level. I know the level of the boys and I know what they can do, I see them every day. In the first have we didn’t do anything to be dangerous to the opponent or to win the three points”, Zahovaiko said. “Two completely different halves. The first half was very weird to watch because I didn’t recognize the players. The performance was really, really, poor from all of them. In the second half I recognize our team, we started to play the ball, we arrived the opponent’s half more quicker, we created a lot of chances and it was nice to watch but unfortunately we didn’t score”. The City Boys were close to snatching the three points after substitute Modou Lamin Demba won a penalty in injury time before the keeper saved his spot kick. Slava said: “We had a penalty but penalties are more than lottery, but it’s a pity that we didn’t get the three points from the penalty kick. But after the penalty we had another goal scoring chance with Salifu Colley.” Slava couldn’t hide his feelings to his side after the disappointing draw, saying that; “the results of course disappoints me a lot and I think all the boys in the dress room understood that. It’s a new culture for me and I hope the boys understand my talk was serious enough and they get the right message because with this kind of first half it’s going to be a miracle to win the league”. Youngster Sheikh Jaw came on in the second half and set up Modou Lamin Demba to win the penalty and showed signs of promise for the future. “That was an easy decision to play him (Sheikh Jaw) because he was really good in the training sessions. But I think I also got the message from him that he wants to play more, so it’s a good opportunity…

BY: Media Officer Foday Jatta Estonian and Real de Banjul’s head coach Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko says he’s happy for his boys and winning the first three points as Real de Banjul began its 2022/23 GFF League Division One season with a 4-1 thumping victory over the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF). The City Boys went behind to a first-half lead before a second-half brilliant display with a brace each from forward Salifu Colley and striker Abdoulie Baldeh was enough to turn the game on Real’s favor. “I am happy for the boys that we won the first three points, it’s very important that we start well. I felt a little bit of tension because we trained for three months and the boys wanted to succeed,” Zahovaiko said. He added: “In the first half, we struggled a lot but after the halftime team talk, we came back with a good attitude. Congratulations to everyone”. He said it was very “nice goals (scored by by Colley and Baldeh) because, in the first half, we only had two shots on the goal, not much so two is not enough. So, that was the message that we have to score more and as quickly as possible and it happened in the second minute of the second half. I like that we have nice combination play and really fast arrival in front of the goal with or touch finishing. I’m happy for the boys.” Zahovaiko who’s commonly known as Slava, hailed the team spirit of his side saying: “It’s not easy to come back when you are one zero down. So I think we have a good spirit in the team, and what I like about the boys is that they hate to lose, I think that’s the most important thing. They (GAF) had a lucky goal, I’m not sure if it’s a goal or not but we have to trust the linesman”. Slava notes that he wasn’t lucky for the red card on the GAF goalkeeper but agreed it makes it easy to play against a team with a man down. “I cannot say that it’s a lucky red card for us because we try to play more directly behind the line and with the first ball we succeeded, the goalkeeper committed the mistake and when a team (the opponent) is one man down it’s easier to play, but I can say that the opponent fought still so it wasn’t an easy game for us”. The new Real de Banjul gaffer outlined the targets for him and his team for the new league season saying that it is: “to win the league and to help the players to reach the next (professional) level and help the club to have a good and solid training system. That’s my target!” Abdoulie Baldeh, who scored a brace on the evening, said he was happy to score in the first game of the season and he felt it was deserved after the preparation they’ve been through. Baldeh said: “Last season,…