Matches of the second playing day in Pool B, in Buea, entered day two yesterday with Union Douala thrashing Epervier, 2 -0, to head the provisional classification table. The Doaula based team, which played in Division I during the just ended season, is working hard to stay in the elite league.
With six points, two ahead of runners up Impôts Yaounde, and three goals to its favour, Union Douala is definitely the greatest favourites for one of the two Pool B Tickets.
In the first match, Union Abong Mbang edged Pilote FC, 2-1. The victory offered three precious points to the East provincial representatives and opened brighter prospects for the team which now has a total of four points after their 2-2 tie in their first outing last Sunday. FC Pilote, on the other hand, tails the unofficial classification table and may be thinking of giving up after conceding a second consecutive defeat.
Organizational lapses have come to a head in the second day of Interpools in Buea with officials bringing entry tickets for sale some 15 minutes after the kick-off of the first match. Spectators were embarrassed when they crowded up at the Molyko Stadium entrance only to be told to continue waiting for tickets.
The talk of the day in Buea was FC Pilote’s first goal in the competition, which has so far been the most spectacular. John Saoui of Pilote lobbed keeper Mbarga Michel in a reply to Abong Mbang’s earlier attempt at scoring their third goal. Saoui, a promising attacker, benefited from a goalmouth-tussle, which displaced full defenseman Messi. He signalled keeper Mbarga to come for rescue. Mbarga made the desperate outing only to turn round and find the ball in his net. Spectators cheered in support of the move and the match changed phase. Pilote regained hope and pushed on and on to no avail. But for referee’s apparent clemency one minute to full time Abong Mbang should have benefited from a penalty following a clear hand ball fault by Pilote’s defenseman.
Pilote’s coach, Marc Bailao remains confident in picking one of the tickets in the competition in spite of their disappointing first two outings. His team is only four years old. It fields very young players of an average age of 17. The boys just need just experience to be up to the task. « The competition has not yet ended », Bailao said. The team still has three matches.
Union Abong Mbang can now tackle the rest of the competition in serenity bagging four points in two matches. Their coach, Adjaba just needs to open his eyes to the mistakes of Mbarga who is still to prove his worth in the competition. Matches of the third playing day in Pool B will take place on Saturday.
Nkeze Mbonwoh
