Negombo Youth bounced back from last week’s 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Colombo FC to earn three points against local rivals Don Bosco with a comprehensive 3-0 win at the Kelaniya Football Complex.
Negombo Youth were under pressure to perform after the surprise scoreline a week ago and welcomed the return of midfield linchpin Tharusha Rangana and the veteran striker Kasun Jayasuriya after injuries but Jayasuriya started the match on the bench.
After some initial hick-ups Negombo Youth took control of the match camping inside the opposition half but were unable to breakdown the defense manned by Madushka Peiris and Henry Appiah.
At half time the scores remained 0-0.
Negombo Youth coach Mohamed Kabir looking to inject some experience into the forward line brought in Kasun Jayasuriya at halftime and it did the trick as they tested Chinthaka Sanjeewa on a few occasions. Don Bosco defense became so pre-occupied with marking Jayasuriya, that they left holes in the defense.
Ghanaian, Ishun Achooty burst down the right flank and crossed the ball into the box where Pradeep Fernando was on hand to strike the opening goal for Negombo Youth. Soon after Don Bosco had two opportunities to equalize but all went a-begging as George Durel fired wide with the goalkeeper stranded and Appiah headed over from close range.
Jayasuriya earned his side a penalty when one of his trademark runs into the box forced Chinthaka to make an error but his penalty was excellently saved by Chinthaka, redeeming himself. However Jayasuriya made certain his side got a two goal advantage when he struck a low powerful shot beating the goalkeeper at this near post while Abdul Mumuni scored the third taking advantage of a defensive error towards the end of the match.
Aba double stun Renown
Crystal Palace came from a goal down to defeat Renown 3-1 in the Dialog Champions League, at the Jayathilake Stadium in Nawalapitiya.
Renown captain Hakeem Kamil scored the opener in the 25th minute but the lead was short lived as Mohamed Rawzan scored the equalizer two minutes later. Crystal Palace went into half time leading 2-1 with Isaac Aba’s first goal ten minutes from half time.
The only goal in the 2nd half came in the 61st minute from the boot of Aba as Palace inflicted on Renown their second defeat in three matches sending them to the bottom half while Crystal Palace went up to second place with 7 points in group A behind Air Force.
Navy have it easy against Thihariya Youth
Chalana Chameera scored a brace as Navy strolled through to a 5-0 win against Thihariya Youth at the Kelaniya Football Complex.
It took the dominant Navy side until the 44th minute to break the resolute Thihariya Youth defense when Chameera scored the opener but there on in goals came at regular intervals with Nirmal Wijethunga adding the second in first half added time.
Just after the hour mark Chameera added his second while Pradeep Perera and Tharindu Eranga scored the rest in the 79th and 86th minutes respectively.
In the other matches, Shanmugaraja Sanjeev scored a goal in each half as Police SC defeated Pelicans SC at St.Anne’s Ground in Kurunegala. Nandimithra SC survived a close 1-0 win against the newly promoted Highlanders SC while Saunders SC and Air Force SC played out an entertaining goalless draw at Katunayake, with both sides missing numerous goal scoring chances.
