By Arfang M.S. Camara
Police women came from a set down to beat The Gambia Armed Forces 3-1 (15-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25- 20) during The Gambia Volleyball Federation super cup finals on Saturday at the Independence Stadium.
The first set started strong and an evenly matched few points led GAF ahead of Police. GAF kept up the lead, celebrating a win of 25-15.
A few dodgy serves in the second set put Police one step ahead of GAF, which they struggled to claw back throughout the set.
The tension rose with each point. As GAF’s defense continued to pick up the teams’ hits, several players played it smart and started pushing to the corners.
It wasn’t quite enough and they went down fighting in the second set, 25-21.
In the third set, all the pieces seemed to fit together for Police. GAF kept reassessing the balance on court so as to avoid having gaping holes. However they could not hold on as they lose 25-18.
It was not much in the fourth set as Police killed it 25- 20 to win the final 3-1.
Speaking in an interview with reporters shortly after the game, Lamin L.F. Badjie, head coach for GAF volleyball team blamed their defeat to their fellow security counterpart due to lack of support.
“I lost but am not disappointed with the defeat. I have only presented six players which is not enough for a competition,” he said.
He praised his players for their good performance, noting that there was nothing he could do other than what he presented and what his players performed.
“I am preparing fully for the league which I believe in and hope to gain success if the authorities support me very well. You can see the number of players I have is less but with all that we are trying very hard but we still lack support.”
He continued: “We lack support to be honest. A team like GAF coming with only 6-7 players is not telling well from our side.”