Colwyn Bay 1-2 Flint Town United ( att : 1,564 ) – 2025/26 Cymru Premier

January 1, 2026

Fatbear decided to start the New Year with a bang by watching an early kick-off in the Cymru Premier on S4C !

Today would be the first time these diaries had featured a game from the Cymru Premier, although The New Saints were covered playing Dundee in the 2022/23 Scottish Challenge Cup, and Haverfordwest Town against Shkendija of North Macedonia in the 2023/24 Europa Conference League was also reported on.

Cymru Premier

Formally known as the League of Wales, the Cymru Premier was first played for in 1992/93, and currently consists of 12 sides, but will be expanded to 16 teams for next season. Each side plays each other twice, and after 22 matches the top 6 split to form the Championship Conference and play a further 22 games, whilst the bottom 6 form the Play-Off Conference. Two sides will be relegated and six sides promoted, subject to Tier 1 licences being granted.

Today’s match was part of Round 21, with Colwyn Bay needing one point from their final two games to be assured of reaching the Championship Conference, whilst Flint Town United were already assigned to the Play-Off Conference.

Colwyn Bay FC ( Clwb Pêl-Droed Bae Colwyn )

Colwyn Bay is on the north coast of Wales and is known for its 3-mile beach. The population of the greater area is around 30,000

Its football team were founded in 1881 and have nicknames of The Seagulls or The Bay. Although initially playing in the Welsh National League ( North ), Colwyn Bay moved to the English League structure in 1983/84 when they joined the North West Counties Division Three. Three promotions led to promotion to Division One of the Northern Premier League at the end of 1990/91.

At the end of 1991/92, Colwyn Bay were ordered by the Welsh FA to join the newly formed League Of Wales, but Colwyn Bay were a refusenik, and part of what was dubbed the “Irate Eight”, along with Barry Town, Bangor City, Caernarfon Town, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Newtown and Rhyl. To stay in the English non-league pyramid, Colwyn Bay were barred from playing in Wales, so they initially played at Northwich Victoria, and then Ellesmere Port, before successfully winning a court case enabling them to return home.

Promotion via the play-offs in 2010/11 took The Seagulls to step 2 Conference North where they stayed for four seasons before being relegated back down to the Northern Premier League. Another relegation to NPL Division One North followed until Colwyn Bay opted to rejoin the Welsh Leagues and entered the second tier Cymru North for 2019/20. The Seagulls won the 2022/23 Cymru North title to earn promotion but their stay in the Cymru Premier lasted only one season. However, The Seagulls bounced back at the first attempt to be promoted back to the Cymru Premier for this season.

Home is the 3,000 capacity Llanelian Road, which has 1,850 seats, and for sponsorship reasons is now known as the Blue Turtle Arena.

Colwyn Bay This Season

Colwyn Bay came into this round of fixtures in 5^th place with an 8-6-6 record, and were 4-4-2 at home. They started the season with a 1-1 home draw with Connah’s Quay Nomads, and they drew four of their opening 5 matches until a 4-1 victory at Cardiff Met University. A 3-0 home win over Haverfordwest followed, but a run of just two goals in six games followed, but eight points were procured with two wins and two draws.

The Seagulls had won three of their last matches, beating Llanelli Town ( H 3-1 ), Penybont ( H 5-4 ) and last time out, 2-1 at Caernarfon Town. However, they had lost 0-1 at Haverfordwest and 1-2 at Connah’s Quay Nomads.

Colwyn Bay were currently the best supported team in the Cymru Premier with an average attendance of 886, with the highest being the 1,516 for the game against Connah’s Quay Nomads on Day 1.

Colwyn Bay Squad

Ex-Connah’s Quay Nomads and Haverfordwest striker Jordan Davies was the Seagulls top scorer with 10 goals after joining from Greenock Morton in August. Forward Louis Robles, ex-Wigan, Macclesfield, Grimsby, TNS and Bala, joined in the summer and had 5 goals to his name.

19-year-old keeper Alex Brown was on loan from Chester City, centre-back Lewis Sirell had played for Gateshead and Swedish side Ostersund, midfielder Aeron Edwards spent 12 seasons with The New Saints, whilst centre-back Nathan Peate had played for Cefn Druids and Bala.

Winger Aron Williams had played for Connah’s Quay Nomads and forward Aaron Williams, no relation, had played in the Football League for Walsall, Peterborough and Newport County, and Harrogate, Brackley and Newtown were amongst his other clubs. Midfielder George Hughes had played for Shrewsbury and Newtown.

Manager Micheal Wilde had played for Fleetwood Town, The New Saints, Chester, Flint Town and Connah’s Quay Nomads.

Watching Colwyn Bay

Fatbear had seen Colwyn Bay play on one occasion, when as a National League North side they visited Oxford City in 2013/14, and won 2-1. Ex-Chelsea and Leicester City defender Frank Sinclair was the Seagulls manager at the time, and defender Danny Meadowcroft scored both goals.

Colwyn Bay finished 13^th that season and had an average home attendance of 348.

 

Flint Town United

Flint is a town on estuary of the River Dee and opposite The Wirral, and has a population of around 15,000. Its most prominent feature is probably Flint Castle.

Its football side were founded in 1886 and are known as The Silkmen. They haven’t bothered to translate their name into Welsh but interestingly, home is Cae-y-Castell ( The Castle Field ), although for sponsorship reasons it is now called The Essity Stadium. Connah’s Quay Nomads moved in as tenants in 2023.

The club had played in the North Wales League, the West Cheshire League, Welsh League ( North ) and the Cymru Alliance before becoming founder members of the League of Wales in 1992/93. Flint Town United were relegated at the end of the 1997/98 season and thereafter they played at the second tier Cymru Alliance/Cymru North until a second placed finish at the end of 2019/20 saw promotion back to the top level.

Another relegation followed in 2022/23 after a last day defeat, but they bounced straight back when a second placedfinish meant promotion after Cymru North champions Holywell Town failed to be awarded the necessary licence for the Cymru Premier.

Last season Flint Town United finished 9^th to stay in the division.

Flint Town United This Season

Flint came into today’s match in 11^th place with a 4-6-10 record, and were 1-4-5 away from home. Scoring goals had not been a problem, their 32 was the 5^th highest in the division, but 48 conceded was only better than bottom side Llanelli Town.

Flint started the season reasonably well and after 5 matches they stood in 6^th place in the table. Victories had been registered at home to Cardiff Metropolitan University ( 4-2 ) and at Llanelli Town ( 5-0 ) and the opening game had been a 1-1 draw at Bala Town.

However, only two wins had been achieved since, 2-1 over Briton Ferry Llansawel and 4-0 against Llanelli, both at home. The Silkmen were currently on a run of 8 games without a win, but 4 of these had been drawn. Last time out, Flint Town United slipped to a 0-2 loss at home to tenants Connah’s Quay Nomads in front of their best crowd of the season with 720 in attendance

The average crowd for the season to-date was 346.

Flint Town United Squad

Ex-Alfreton Town centre-forward Elliott Reeves was the top scorer with 11 goals, the joint-second best in the League. Ex-Aberystwyth and Caernarfon midfielder Ben Wynne was next with 4 goals.

The keeper was the aptly named Jack Flint, who had played in the youth teams at Crewe Alexandra and Bolton Wanderers, Spanish defensive midfielder Sidi Sanogo-Fofana had played for several non-league clubs including Macclesfield and Runcorn, and centre-back and captain Harry Owen had played for Colwyn Bay and Connah’s Quay Nomads.

Jamaican forward Darren Stephenson had played for Bradford City, Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County, Chester and appeared in these diaries for Farsley Celtic at Oxford City. Full-back Ben Wollam and midfielder Jake Canavan were on loan from The New Saints.

Midfielder Jake Phillips had played for 6 Welsh sides, including Airbus UK and Connah’s Quay Nomads, left-back Dan Davies was a former Welsh Under 18 international whilst at Wrexham and had also played for Colwyn Bay, and midfielder Jack Thorn was ex-Wrexham, Newtown and Aberystwyth, and was the son of former Wimbledon, Newcastle and Crystal Palace defender Andy Thorn.

Zimbabwe defensive midfielder Alec Mudimu ( 26 caps ) has had an exotic career, playing for Sheriff Tiraspol, Ankaraspor, two sides in Georgia and Tunisians Olymique de Beja, in addition to Stalybridge Celtic, Altrincham and Cefn Druids, and was in the Zimbabwe squad for AFCON 25 in Morocco but didn’t get to play.

Flint’s manager was Lee Fowler, a maverick playmaker fondly remembered by Crawley Town supporters for his half a season there in 2015, and who numbered Coventry City, Huddersfield, Newport Country, Wrexham, Burton Albion and Forest Green Rovers amongst his other former clubs. Fowler had been in the Flint hot-seat since 2022.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner, the journey from Flint to Colwyn Bay is 28 miles and should normally take 36 minutes along the North Wales Expressway.

Tickets for the game were £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £2 for children.

The weather at the 12.30 kick-off was light rain and a stiff breeze, with a temperature of 7 degrees.

The match was shown live on S4C, and also on the Sgorio YouTube Channel with a choice of Welsh and English language commentaries available.

Bet365 made Colwyn Bay 7/10 favourites, with Flint Town United at 14/5 and the draw also 14/5

Colwyn Bay made one change to their team, with defender Sol Forde replacing Aaron Williams. Forde had a short loan spell at Flint when on the books of Chester.

Flint made three changes with Mudimu returning after Zimbabwe’s elimination from AFCON 25, and forwards Michael Burke and Josh Jones were selected. Top scorer Reeves and Ben Wynne dropped to the bench and Dan Davies missed out completely.

Colwyn Bay were playing in their usual claret and blue shirts, with claret shorts and socks whilst Flint were in black and white stripes, with black shorts and socks.

Colwyn Bay started with eight Welshman in their line-up compared to just three for Flint.

Match Report

With less than a minute played Colwyn Bay won a throw-in near the left-hand corner flag, which was launch long and bounced across the 6-yard line until Fofana headed away. Flint attacked and won the first corner of the game, which was headed clear by Sirell.

Sirell than played a pass down the left-hand touchline for Ethan Roberts, who skillfully cut inside Wollam but the dangerous low cross was gathered by Flint keeper Flint.

The game was initially end-to-end and in the 4^th minute Stephenson’s left footed shot lacked power, and Brown saved at his near post.

The visitors were starting to get on top and Canavan floated a lovely ball in the Bay area. The touch from Phillips went to Stephenson, who blazed over from 8 yards, he really should have scored. The impressive Canavan then sent a low ball across the goalmouth but just ahead of Stephenson, who retrieved the ball and laid back to Canavan, but his shot was blocked on 6-yard line.

In the 7^th minute Flint won their second corner, but Phillips’ delivery was well caught by Brown. A minute later Davies won Colwyn Bay’s first corner of the match, which came to nothing

Flint nearly opened the scoring in the 11^th minute when Canavan’s through pass found Jones in space and his shot from the edge of the area hit the post and bounced to safety.

Thorn then brought down Roberts to give Colwyn Bay a free-kick on the left-hand side just outside the Flint penalty area, but Flint, the keeper, produced a good punch under pressure and Phillips helped the ball away.

With 16 minutes played Flint created another good chance. Stephenson did well to keep the ball in play and laid back to Fofana, but with the goal in his sights the Spaniard slipped and spooned the ball high and wide.

Colwyn Bay had their first effort in the 19^th minute when Roberts played a low ball from the left wing but Cumming’s first time shot went high and wide from just inside the area.

Colwyn Bay were now enjoying a brief spell of pressure and Davies turned and shot just over the bar from the 18-yard line. Poor control from Mudimu then resulted in the concession of a corner, which Edwards took, but Peate under pressure from Fofana headed wide from 6 yards.

Flint were soon back on the attack and Wollam’s great cross-field past was well controlled by Burke, who received a return pass from Stephenson and then passed to Canavan 10 yards from goal, but the fierce left footed effort was matched by a great save by Brown.

Brown then undid his good work with a sloppy pass out from the back which was intercepted by Fofana, who went for goal but saw his shot blocked. The Silkman regained possession and Jones shot narrowly wide from the edge of area.

In a rare foray by Colwyn Bay into the Flint area, Robles’ low shot from a tight angle was helped around post by Flint, but a foul at the corner gave the visitors a free-kick. Madimu then fouled Williams for a Bay free-kick on the right. The delivery from Hughes was well claimed by Flint.

The first yellow card of the game arrived in the 39^th minute when Robles fouled Wollam, after which the free-kick from Phillips was headed away by Peate, who a couple of minutes later headed away a Phillips corner.

The last action of the half saw a Flint free-kick from the half-way line caught above his head by Brown.

It was goalless at the interval but Flint had created the best chances and probably should have been ahead.

The wind had got much stronger as the second half started but despite playing into the wind, it was Flint who started the better of the two sides.  Phillips played a nice pass to enable Jones to get to the byline, and his pull back found Canavan just inside the Colwyn Bay area, but the TNS loanee put a great chance over the bar.

A poor kick from the Colwyn Bay keeper was headed back by Fofana on the half-way line and Jones ran clear. and finished by sliding the ball between advancing keeper’s legs and into the net. 0-1 after 51 minutes.

Colwyn Bay almost immediately grabbed a fluke equaliser as a long free-kick caught the wind and was heading for the top corner until the Flint keeper dived and pushed the ball away for a corner

Flint were not going to sit back on their lead and Jones ran onto a pass down the right-hand channel and laid the ball back to Phillips, whose cross was met by the diving Burke, but under pressure the header went well wide.

Burke then played an inviting low ball from left after a pass from Thorn but no-one was at far post for a tap in. Stephenson then played Jones clear but an offside flag denied the visitors.

With 62 minutes on the clock, Colwyn Bay came close again. Flint punched a cross clear but only as far as Cumming on edge of area, who headed goalwards, but the ball smacked against the crossbar and keeper Flint claimed the loose ball.

Cumming went for goal from 25 yards but Flint made a regulation catch above his head, then at the other end a cross-cum-shot from Jones was caught above his head by the Colwyn Bay keeper.

With 73 minutes played, after a Roberts cross was headed away by Owen, Sirell’s left footed drive from angle of penalty area went straight at Flint, who held well.

Colwyn Bay patiently built up an attack until Flint’s Canavan sliced his attempted clearance high and back into his own area. Davies challenged with Thorn, who fell to the ground, but the referee allowed play to continue and Hughes swept the ball into the bottom corner from 14 yards. 1-1 with 76 minutes played.

The Seagulls attacked again and Davies kept the ball in play near the corner flag and found Roberts, who delivered a left footed cross. The attempted clearance by Owen was wildly sliced across his own goal but Madimu cleared to start a Flint counter. Phillips put Jones clear, but the shot from 20 yards was well saved by the diving Brown.

Play was held up with around 10 minutes remaining to be played as the referee had picked up an injury, and the Fourth Official needed to take over.

Flint were still going for the win, and Reeves and Wynne were brought on to freshen up their attack. However, it was the home side who pressed next, as a long throw from substitute Matty Hill bounced across the Flint area until being sliced in to the air for the Flint keeper to punch away for a throw on the opposite side of the pitch, which Fofana headed away. Colwyn Bay pumped the ball back into the mixer and the keeper again punched away.

With a minute of normal time remaining, Hill’s cross from right was met by susbstitute Aaron Williams but his header flews a couple feet wide of the near post.

Reeves’ first involvement was to get to the left byline and cross low across the goalmouth where Hughes hurriedly cleared.

Eight additional minutes were indicated as Flint won a corner. Canavan sent the set-piece to the near post and Owen headed towards the goal. Brown parried the header on his line and then claimed the ball as it rebounded of the post. However, the linesman signalled that the ball had crossed the line before the keeper clutched it, and the TV replays showed it was a good decision by the assistant. It was now 1-2 in the 92^nd minute.

Colwyn Bay frantically surged forward searching for an equaliser and after the ball bounced around the Flint area, Cumming’s shot struck a defender and was cleared.

With Colwyn Bay leaving gaps at the back, Reeves got to a long ball ahead of the Bay keeper and poked it past him, then ran on to it. However, with the ball running away from the goal, Reeves shot left footed over the bar as defenders desperately raced back to cover.

Reeves had another good chance to seal the victory a minute later as Jones and Wynne combined to tee-up the striker, but Reeves shot over the bar from 12 yards.

The game ended with a bit of a whimper. A Colwyn Bay free-kick was launched from their own half into the Flint area where Fofana headed away. The ball was pumped back in but a couple of Bay attackers were offside, and the referee blew for full time.

With this defeat Colwyn Bay remained in 5^th place in the table and technically still needed one more point to finish in the top 6, although 7^th placed Cardiff Metropolitan would need to win and make up an 8-goal difference. Flint moved above Bala and into 10^th in the table.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dASn-lyydRs 

Colwyn Bay : Brown – Forde, Peate, Sirell – Aron Williams ( U Kargbo ), Cumming, Edwards ( Aaron Williams ), Hughes, Roberts – Robles ( Hill ), Davies

Flint Town United : Flint – Wollam, Owen, Mudimu – Phillips ( Wynne ), Canavan,H Thorn, Fofana, Burke – Stephenson ( Reeves ), Jones

 

 

Gabon 2-3 Mozambique ( att : 9,796 ) – 2025 Africa Cup Of Nations

December 28, 2025

Today’s early afternoon kick-off in the Africa Cup Of Nations was a Group F match between Gabon and Mozambique. Both sides had lost their opening fixtures by a 0-1 scoreline, Mozambique to Ivory Coast and Gabon to Cameroon. Therefore, both sides were in need of a victory today if they were to have realistic ambitions of being one of the four best third placed teams and to proceed to the last 16 knock-out round.

This would be the first time both countries had been featured in these diaries.

Gabon

Gabon is located on the Atlantic Coast of Central Africa, with Equatorial Guinea to the north-west, Cameroon to the north and Congo Republic to the east and south.

Gabon covers an area of 270,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 2.3 million. A former French colony, Gabon achieved independence in 1960. Consequently, French is the official language and is spoken by an estimated 80% of the population. There are 40 Bantu languages spoken in Gabon, of which Fang is the most widely spoken, and is also spoken in Equatorial Guinea and parts of Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe and Republic of Congo.

The capital of Gabon is Libreville, which has a population of over 700,000, and 80% of country are Christian.

Its currency is the Central African CAF Franc, which is also the currency in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea.

Football in Gabon

The top level of football in Gabon is the Championnat D1, which for the 2024/25 season consisted of 13 sides and was won by Mangasports, from the inland town of Moanda, who finished 22 points clear of FC Libreville. The season ended in May, but it is not known when the new season will commence.

In the 2025/26 CAF Champions League, Mangasports played Rahimo of Burkina Faso in the First Round, but after two 0-0 draws, they lost a penalty shoot-out 2-4.

In the 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup, FC Libreville were drawn against Zesco United from Zambia but despite winning the home leg 2-0, they crashed 0-5 in Ndola to be eliminated.

Gabon currently had a FIFA ranking of 78 and are known as The Panthers. They had never qualified for the World Cup Finals, but in the recently completed World Cup qualification campaign, Gabon finished second in their group behind Ivory Coast with an 8-1-1 record. Home and away victories were recorded over Gambia, Kenya, Burundi and The Seychelles, but against Ivory Coast they could only draw 0-0 at home and lost 0-1 away.

Los Angeles FC forward Denis Bouanga ( 53 caps ) scored 8 times in the group whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ( 85 caps ), the ex-Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea striker, found the net 7 times. Aubameyang is the record goalscorer for The Panthers having 39 goals to his name and at the age of 36 is still playing for Marseille.

Gabon’s second place entered them into CAF’s play-offs for a place in the Intercontinental play-offs, where they faced Nigeria in a one-off game in Morocco. Although it was 1-1 after 90 minutes, Nigeria went on to win 4-1 in extra time.

Gabon qualified for AFCON 25 by coming second in a four-team group behind Morocco with a 3-1-2 record, with all 6 matches played in 2024. Gabon did the double over Central African Republic ( H 2-0, A 1-0 ) and had the better of Lesotho ( H 0-0, A 1-0 ) but were thrashed twice by Morocco, 1-5 at home and 1-4 away.

Gabon Squad

In addition to Aubameyang, three other members of the Gabon squad had played in the English Premier League. Captain Bruno Ecuele Managa played five seasons for Cardiff City including their one season in the Premier League in 2018/19 when Fatbear saw him play at Arsenal, with Aubameyang in the Arsenal XI. Ecuele Manga is Gabon’s record cap holder with 109 appearances, and is now playing in the third level in France.

Defensive midfielder Mario Lemina ( 40 caps ) played for Southampton, Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and is now with Galatasaray, and had Marseille and Juventus on his CV. Midfielder Didier Ndong ( 53 caps ) played for Sunderland and is now playing in Iran for Esteghlal.

Only one of the Gabon squad played his club football in his home country, striker Malick Evouna ( 32 caps ), who had played in China, Morocco, Egypt, Portugal and Tunisia.

The rest of the squad of 28 players were spread across 12 countries, France being the highest represented with 9 players, followed by Turkey with 4 and Italy, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Iran each providing two players.

Midfielder Andre Poko ( 87 caps ) had played for Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Croatian side Istra 1961 and four sides in Turkey, including current employers Amedspor, and Guelor Kanga ( 84 caps ) numbered Sparta Prague, Rostov and Red Star Belgrade amongst his former clubs and is now playing in the Turkish second tier.

Head Coach Thierry Mouyouma was an ex-Gabon international ( 32 caps ) and played overseas in Portugal and South Africa.  

Mozambique

The Republic of Mozambique is located on the south-east of Africa on the Indian Ocean, with Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the north-east, Zimbabwe to the west and Eswatini and South Africa to the south-west.

Mozambique covers an area of just over 800,000 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 35 million. A former Portuguese colony, Mozambique achieved independence in 1975 and Portuguese is the official language, although 5 regional languages are also recognised.

The capital of Mozambique is Maputo, previously known as Lourenco Marques, which has a population of over 1 million. 60% of country are Christian.

Its currency is the Metical, which replaced the Portuguese Escudo in 1980.

Football in Mozambique

The topflight league in Mozambique is known as the Mocambola and consists of 14 sides who play each other twice for a 26-game season. With four founds to be played in the current season, UD Songo, from an inland town close to the borders with Zambia and Malawi, were 18 points clear of second placed Black Bulls, the 2024 champions, from the capital Maputo, so were assured of their fourth title since 2017.

In the 2025/26 CAF Champions League, Black Bulls faced AC Leopards from the Republic of Congo and won a penalty shoot-out after two 0-0 draws. In the second round Black Bulls beat Rivers United from Nigeria 1-0 in the home leg, but then were defeated 1-3 in the second leg to exit the competition.

In the 2025/26 CAF Confederations Cup, Cup Winners Ferroviario de Maputo faced AS Fanalamanga from Madagascar and after 1-1 home draw, won 2-1 away to progress to the second round, although the return leg was also played in Maputo. However, in the second round AS Otoho from the Congo Republic were too strong, winning both legs to progress 3-0 on aggregate.

In colonial times, Mozambique provided a number of players to the Portugal national team, with the most notable being Eusebio ( 63 caps and 41 goals ), centre-back Vicente ( 20 caps ) and left-back Hilario ( 40 caps ), who were all key players as Portugal won Third Place in the 1966 World Cup. In more recent times, ex-Everton, Liverpool and Middlesborough Poseidon look-alike Abel Xavier ( 20 caps ) performed with distinction for Portugal during Euro 2000, whilst Jorge Cadete ( 33 caps ) played in Euro 96, as well as for Celtic, Sporting CP, Benfica, Bradford City and Partick Thistle.

Mozambique National Team

Mozambique currently had a FIFA ranking of 102 but had been as high as 66^th in 1997.

Mozambique had never qualified for the World Cup Finals, but this was the 6^th time they had qualified for the AFCON finals, although they had never previously got out of the group stages, or even won a match.

In the recently completed World Cup qualification campaign Mozambique finished in third place in their group with a 6-0-4 record. They did the double over Botswana and Somalia, but lost at home to Guinea ( 1-2 ) but won the away fixture ( 1-0 ) but had the reverse with Uganda, winning 3-1 at home but losing 0-4 away. The two games against group winners Algeria resulted in defeats, 0-2 at home and 1-5 away.

Mozambique qualified for AFCON 2025 with a second place finished in their group behind Mali with a 3-2-1 record. A double was recorded over Guinea-Bissau ( both 2-1 ), and although back-markers drew 1-1 in Maputo, the return, played in South Africa, was won 3-0. Against Mali, Mozambique drew 1-1 in the opening group fixture in Bamako, but fell to a 0-1 loss at home.

The nickname for the Mozambique national team is The Mambas.

Mozambique Squad

11 of the Mozambique squad plied their trade in their domestic league, with Black Bulls and UD Songo each providing 4 players. Portugal supplied 7 players and the rest of the squad were spread across 10 countries.

The only player from Mozambique to play in the English Premier League was ex-Lille and Atletico Madrid and current Sunderland full-back Reinildo Mandava ( 54 caps ). Midfielder Alfons Amade ( 13 caps ) was now playing for Dunfermline Athletic, having previously been with Oostende and Bulgarian side Septemvri Sofia.

Winger Geny Catamo ( 37 caps ) played for Sporting CP and defender Mexer ( 74 caps ) had played for Rennes and Bordeaux in France and Nacional and Estoril in Portugal but was now playing in the second tier in Turkey. Portugal born midfielder Guima ( 22 caps )  now played in Azerbaijan for Zira, and was a rare white player in AFCON, whilst winger Witi ( 47 caps ) played for Madeiran side Nacional in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, and presumably leaves supporters rolling in the aisles !

42-year-old captain and centre-back Domingues was the record cap holder on 118 and was the second highest goal scorer with 17 goals.

Coach Chiquinho Condo ( 43 caps ) played for 8 sides in Portugal including Sporting CP, and New England Revolution in the USA.

Matchday Information

The match was being played at the 45,480 capacity Adrar Stadium in Agadir, which is home to Hossania Agadir.

All AFCON matches were being shown live in the UK over the Channel 4 network, and this match was streamed on the 4seven channel ( Sky Channel 137 ).

Bet365, who also live streamed the game made Gabon 4/5 favourites, with Mozambique at 15/4 and the draw 12/5.

Online tickets for the game ranged from 100 to 300 Moroccan Dirhams ( £8 to £25 )

The weather at the 13.30 local kick-off time ( 12.30 UK ) was sunny and 17 degrees.

Gabon were playing in yellow shirts with blue shorts and socks., whilst Mozambique were in red shirts with black trimmings, black shorts and red socks.

Gabon made four changes from the side that started against Cameroon. In came Aubameyeng, Lemina, Kanga and Red Star Belgrade’s Shavy Babicka ( 19 caps ). Out went Alex Moucketou-Moussounda, Royce Openda, Teddy Averlant and Eric Bocoum

Following their loss to Ivory Coast, Mozambique two changes to their side with Domingues and Faisal Bangal ( 10 caps ), who plays in the 4^th tier in Italy, back into the side, and Manuel Kambala ( 39 caps ) and Stanley Ratifo ( 38 caps ), of 4^th tier Chemie Leipzig in Germany, were dropped.

The referee was Mehrez Melki from Tunisia.

Match Report

The crowd was spartan at the kick-off although there were around a thousand or so Gabon supporters concregated around the half-way line in the upper tier of the open stand.

The start of the match was lively as first Kanga’s 20-yard shot produced a diving save from Mozambique keeper Eman Siluane ( 29 caps ) at the expense of a corner. The set-piece was cleared, and a left footed cross from the right wing was well claimed by Mozambique keeper.

Catamo set off on a good run for the Mambas, and a left footed shot from the edge of the area was deflected wide for a corner, at which Kanga was fouled for a free-kick to Gabon.

In the 6^th minute Diogo Calila sent a dangerous cross into the Gabon area but the glancing header from Witi bounced well wide.

Siluane continued to show safe handling, coming to the edge of his area to catch a floated ball over the top, ahead of two on-rushing Gabon attackers.

The game entered a quiet phase until the 17^th minute when a long ball put Catamo clear with just Gabon keeper Loyce Mbaba ( 14 caps ) to beat, but the midfielder took a heavy touch and Mbaba able to kick clear.

Witi then won a corner off Anthony Oyono ( 29 caps ) from which Mandava rose highest but couldn’t direct his header, which went high and wide.

Gabon and Angers left-back Jacques Ekomie ( 19 caps ) produced a great piece of defending, first stopping Bangal from getting a cross in, then kept the ball in play, and was then fouled to win a free-kick.

In the 25^th minute Witi produced a lovely dummy but a superb sliding interception from Ecuele Manga prevented the return pass from Bangal reaching Witi.

Two minutes later, a 30-yard free-kick from Mexer would have been a fabulous conversion in rugby, but in football it only resulted in a goal-kick. A minute after this, Mexer attempted a 30 yard left footed effort, which again went high over the bar to keep the rugby scouts interested.

With 30 minutes played, a through ball put Guima clear but rather than attempt to slide the ball past Mbaba he opted to pass square to Witi but a sliding tackle Oyono prevented the Mozambique winger from having a shot. Guima should have gone for glory himself.

Five minutes later an awful backward pass by Bangal was latched onto by Bouanaga who ran into Mozambique area, but his left footed shot was a comfortable low save for Siluane.

Bangal quickly redeemed himself though, when he met an in-swinging corner from Catamo and unmarked, he sent a glancing header into corner from 6 yards. 0-1 after 38 minutes.

Almost immediately after, Rodrigues nicked the ball off Ecuele Manga close to the Gabon byline and a shirt pull brought him down for an obvious penalty. The Gabon captain was shown a yellow card and Catamo sent the keeper wrong way from the spot. It was now 0-2 with 41 minutes on the clock.

Gabon were rocking, and flowing Mozambique passing move looked to give Bangal a chance in the right-hand side of the Gabon area but an important tackle by Ecuele Managa took the ball off Bangal just as he was about to pull the trigger.

An over hit cross from Bouanaga was plucked out of the sky by keeper impressive Mozambique keeper.

Mozambique could have extended their lead in the first added minute of the first half as a back-heel from Bangal found Witi in space, and his curling 20 yard effort crashed back from the crossbar. Guima ran onto the rebound and blazed first time wildly over from 10 yards when he had time to take a touch.

The Mambas paid the price for that miss as in the 5^th added minute Ndong had a go from 30 yards and Siluane made a block. However, Aubameyeng slid in with a predator’s finish from 6 yards to pull one back for the Panthers. Siluane would probably have felt he could have done better to push away from the goal, but it was 1-2 at half-time.

Gabon made three changes at half-time, including taking off captain Ecuele Manga but it was Mozambique who scored next when a super left-footed cross from left by Witi saw right back Diogo Calila ghost into the area to head past Mbaba from 8 yards. 1-3 after 52 minutes.

Gabon should have pulled one back almost immediately. Bouanga cut inside on left and delivered an inviting cross, but with a free header on the 6-yard line, Aubameyang somehow put the ball wide. It was a glorious chance !

Gabon continued to press and forced two corners but the next chance went to Mozambique when Catamo went on a good run and shot left footed from just outside area, but Mbaba made a regulation catch above his head.

A Gabon free-kick was sent beyond far post but Aubameyang couldn’t keep it in play with his head.

With 15 minutes remaining Siluane made a great double save. First, Aubameyang was put clear after lovely through ball from Ekomie but was denied at close range by the Black Bulls keeper. Lemina ran onto rebound but his shot from 10 yards was pushed away by the keeper for corner. Gabon sent the corner into the mixer and Ekomie’s blasted left footed shot 12 yards produced another great reflex save from Siluane, but substitute Moucketou-Moussounda slid in to score from just inside 6-yard box. It was now 2-3 with 76 minutes played

It was all Gabon now and after lengthy treatment Siluane was shown a yellow card, presumably for time wasting. Poko sent a good cross from the right wing but Lamina’s glancing header was at Siluane, who made the save and then went down injured again after kicking the ball off for a throw. However, he was able to continue again.

Mozambique got the ball into the net in the 90^th minute after a quick counter. A 20-yard shot struck the shoulder of Catamo and diverted into the top corner of the net. However, Catamo was clearly offside and the goal was chalked off.

Gabon were getting desperate and Lamina’s 25-yard attempt rolled through to keeper, but the effort from the same distance by Kanga went just over the bar.

Throwing players forward, Gabon were suspectable to counter-attacks and a long throw by Nanani sent Catamo clear but Mbaba saved the attempt with an outstretched foot.

In the 8^th added minute Siluane caught a high cross from the left wing and the referee blew his whistle to end the game.

Mozambique had their first ever victory at AFCON but may still need a point against Cameroon to progress. Gabon would have to beat Ivory Coast in their final match to have any hope of reaching the knock-out stages.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHKH0RFVVVU

Gabon : Mbaba – Oyono ( Moucketou-Moussounda ), Ecuele Manga ( Onfia ), Lemina, Ekomie – Poko, Ndong, Kanga – Babicka ( Openda ), Aubameyang, Bouanga ( Matouti )

Mozambique : Siluane – Diogo Calila ( Nanani ), Mexer, Mandava, Langa – Catamo, Guima, Domingues ( Kambala ), Amade, Witi ( Gildo )– Bangal ( Chamboco )