Super Sun SC survived a FA Cup upset at the hands of St. Joseph’s SC, Mannar winning 5-4 in a nail-biting penalty shootout after the game ended goalless at full time at the Vernon Fernando Stadium, Kalutara.
Super Sun SC looked more in control from the first whistle of the match, even though St. Joseph’s Mannar SC was looking to create an upset coming into the game yesterday.
The hosts had good positioning tactics and passing skills that helped them keep the ball between their feet for a longer time during the game.
The two teams seemed to cancel themselves out without giving goals away to the other team; Super Sun had a better offence than St. Joseph’s did, while the visitors were dominant in the defensive department.
However, neither team was able to score a goal during the ninety minutes even though they were presented with very good opportunities, with Nuwan Priyankara and Mohamed Farhan causing the problems for the visitors.
St. Joseph’s had a great opportunity to score a goal in the 45th minute of the match, just before the halftime whistle, off a corner. So did Super Sun just after halftime, when the Joshephian goalkeeper P.Lamanton was nowhere to be seen and Mohamed Farhan launched the ball towards goal, but to the agony of the hosts and fans it bounced off the crossbar.
Special skills were shown by Super Sun SC’s Priyankara, leading almost all the offensive maneuvers for them. He found holes in the Josephian defense more than 7 times during the game, but was not able to score off any of them.
The match ended scoreless and the referees had to call in a penalty shootout to decide the winner. After a nail-biting shootout, Super Sun SC was able to scoop up a win by 5 penalties to 4.
ThePapare.com Man of the Match: Nuwan Priyankara
