By: Baboucarr Fallaboweh
This year’s supernawettan is dominated by Kanifing Municipal as Bakau, and Serekunda West meet each other on Saturday at the Serekunda East mini-stadium.
Serekunda West returned to the finals after beating rivals Serekunda East on penalties, while Bakau needed a 54th-minute goal from Omar Jarju to seal their first final since 2014.
Ahead of the buildup, TAT sports spoke to Bakau Coach Saikou Jawara (Okocha) and Serekunda West PRO Dodou Chinti on the game.
The former Real de Banjul midfielder, Saikou, who won the trophy as a player and lost twice, said every coach’s dream is to win a medal.
“I wasn’t tasked; I was given the job as one of the young coaches to take Bakau further. It’s a challenging job. It requires commitment and dedication. We started smoothly during the preseason and came out as champions. We gave every player a chance; that’s how we picked the super nawettan proper. We are going to the finals, treating it as the previous game, with respect and discipline. We commit ourselves and linger a little bit to see what happens.
The Bakau sports committee trusts us; all necessary support comes from them, and even the big coaches always guide us. Technical staffs are committed and willing to do the job. It’s been the longest time; it’s a dream come through.”
The Bakau tactician continued by accessing his opponent.
“I have met with Serekunda west during the preseason, and I have watched their game twice. They are good and compact; they had a wake-up call after losing in the group stages. They are solid, and their attack is quick. We will respect them as an opponent and see how it goes. There is a way to play finals. You need some margins to capitalize on winning a trophy,” He added.
Serekunda West will be looking for what would be their third trophy. The west side will return to the finals after losing 1-0 to Kombo East in 2019. It was their sixth finals that they lost.
PRO Dodou Chinti says only the trophy is their target.
“It won’t be an easy game because we need the trophy. We want to add a trophy to the cabinet. We have one of the best goalkeepers in Papa Njie and a consistent defense. Young talented Midfiders in Muhammed Buosseyand Muhammed Tunkara who are U15 players.”
