By Arfang M.S. Camara
Jean Joof, head coach of Fortune FC has stated that he wants to defend his title in the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) 1st Division League after collecting two wins and a draw in four games.
Fortune FC opened their title defense with a 4-1 defeat against Real de Banjul and a goalless draw against the newly promoted sides Steve Biko before winning their two last fixtures (1-0 wins over Marimoo and Team Rhino) respectively.
“If you see the way we started, dropping five points in our first two games. We realized that was not the right thing to do. We have to start the league as the defending champions,” said Coach Jean Joof.
He added that: “we went back to our training ground to make some adjustments and work hard with the boys, which as a result helped us to win our last game against Marimoo and Team Rhino. This shows that we have found our footing towards the next matches we have in the first round.”
According to him, if they keep on working hard they can repeat their last year’s performance which he said won them the title.
“Out of the four games we played, we were using some players who were not given the chance in the first two games. We gave them the chance in our last two games. They did well and did what we expected from them. This shows that we have other players who have not yet played and will be given the chance in our subsequent games. So we still have the belief that we can repeat what we did last year.”
When asked about his team’s target this season? He said: “at the moment what we always work for at Fortune FC is to try and play game-in-game-out with good performance. Good performance can give you more wins as you expected.”
He added that they always tell their players that they have to work hard to win games, noting that if they perform well, that performance can lead them to have the three points.
“Also if we want to defend our title we have to win games. Without winning games we wouldn’t find ourselves where we want to be. This is why finding the winning mentality in our last two games will really boost our morals,” says Coach Jean Joof.
Meanwhile, Fortune FC will return to action next weekend (7th January 2022) when they play unbeaten Waa Banjul FC.
Fortune FC sit 7th position with 7 points leveling with Hawks and GPA while Waa Banjul occupy 3rd position with 10 points leveling with Falcons and Real de Banjul