The Gambia U-17 team got off to a losing start in the defence of their African Under 17 Championship title after a first round first leg 1-0 defeat to Morocco on Saturday night.

A 55th minute strike from skipper Anas Ouerdani proved the game's only goal ahead of the second leg of the qualifiers at Banjul's Independence Stadium in a fortnight time.The defeat might be harsh on the defending African cadet champions who missed several opportunities to score a goal with forward Yusupha Njie -son of legendry Biri Biri- the guiltiest of several opportunities. The Darling Scorpions started on the back foot but the game's first real opportunity fell to Yusupha Njie whose shot came off the hosts' keeper when it looked easier to hit the target before he had another shot cleared off the line by the Moroccan defence late on.

But it took a string of several world class saves from the Gambian keeper Baka Ceesay to preserve a goalless first half for stand-in coach Lamin Sambou's side with the Young Moroccans throwing several shots at him. In fact the game was almost turned into a show of the two goalkeepers after the break with both keepers making strings of decent saves with the Moroccan keeper in the beginning of the half before he turned the baton onto Baka late on.

Morocco took the lead ten minutes after the restart after captain Anas Ouerdani beat almost the entire Gambian defence before slotting the ball past the advancing Baka Ceesay into the bottom right corner. The Gambians reacted quickly and nearly equalized from kickoff but Hamza Barry's shot from an estimated 35 yards was tipped over by the Moroccan keeper before he denied substitute Buba Jallow from point blank range and Yusupha Njie also had another shot cleared off the line by the keeper with the goal at his mercy.

The return leg will be in Banjul at the Independence Stadium in a fortnight time but probably the next one week will be dominated by the Senior Scorpions opening game at the 2012 AFCON qualifiers at home to Namibia on Saturday, September 4.