By Arfang M.S. Camara
Yaya Manneh, head coach of Elite United has said that his team paid the prize for their preparation during their game against Team Rhino played at the Independence Stadium in Bakau on Thursday.
Team Rhino defeated Elite United 2-1 during their week-17 fixture played at the Stadium in Bakau on Thursday.
Team Rhino took the lead through Ousman Jallow’s powerful header in the 10th minute before Ebou Gaye doubled their lead in the 15th minute through a free kick.
Elite United pulled one goal back in the 79th minute, before Alieu Barry missed the chance to level the game for Elite after he missed a spot kick in the 85th minute of the game.
“I am disappointed with the result. Having known that a win against Team Rhino would take us out from that relegation zone. So we have all statistic right and everything was okay with us until the last minutes.
He further said: “We paid the prize for late preparation which our opponent took up as an advantage. Our warm up was not effective. We arrived at the stadium and there was no dressing room for us until around 8:30pm and we warm up for only ten minutes. That late preparation definitely caused us the game.”
Yunusa Badjie, head coach of Team Rhino expressed delight after collecting the maximum points against Elite United, adding that they took up their chances in the game, knowing that Elite United will come with full confidence after registering back-to-back victories.
“This are very special three points because we wanted to win by all cost so that we can move out of the relegation zone. Our first target is to keep the team in the First Division League and winning against Elite United is a big motivation,” he said.
The victory moved Team Rhino out of the relegation zone to 14th position with 18 points, while Elite United still languish at the rock-bottom-(16th)-position with 13 points.