Colombo FC vs New Youngs SC - Dialog Champions League 2016 - Super 8 - Race Course Grounds - 03/09/2016 - Afis Olayemi (R) dribbling past James Sogah (L)
Colombo FC and New Young’s share the spoils as the visitors clinch a hard earned point against the title holders, in a Dialog Champions League Super 8 game worked off at the Race Course International stadium.
New Young’s SC kicked things off at the Race Course International with both teams starting off their Super 8 campaign on a positive note. Both sides were cautious during the early exchanges as Colombo took charge of midfield enjoying the majority of the ball. Zarwan Johar and Afis Olayemi spearheaded the Colombo offense as they were a constant thorn in the New Young’s’ defence.
Despite the early set back the likes of Hasitha Priyankara and Ankama George slowly grabbed hold of proceedings as they managed to ask a few questions from the Colombo defence lead by Mohammed Ramees.
Photo Album – New Youngs SC v Colombo FC | Super 8 | DCL16
The first clear chance fell onto the head of the Sri Lanka Striker Zarwan Johar as he beat the New Young’s custodian only to be denied by the offside which seemed the right decision. The first chance for the visitors fell to the feet of Hasitha Priyankara who saw his shot sail over the sticks after running one on one against the keeper. A few minutes later James Sogah saw his near post flick just fly over the target after a well worked corner caught the Colombo defence napping.
Colombo rallied despite the growing New Young’s’ pressure only to be denied by their own inability to convert the openings created besides a resilient New Young’s defence.
Both teams went into hut as things started with little to show for their efforts as either side lamented their missed opportunities during the first forty five.
There was more intent shown by Colombo during the first few minutes of the second half as they set off the blocks much faster as they piled on the pressure with successive corners.
Despite claiming for an alleged handball New Young’s inside his own penalty area the referee awarded the decision the visitor’s way awarding them a free kick.
New Young’s realized the best form of defending against the Colombo onslaught was to launch attacks of their own as Hasith Priyankara almost caught Mohamed Imran on his near post.
The resulting corner almost found the back of the net only to be denied by Imran once again as he nicked the ball off the rising Ankama George.
Half Time: Colombo FC 0 : 0 New Youngs SC
With the game stretching both teams threw caution to the wind and the best chance of the half fell to Zarwan Johar as his header was only to be denied by the post, Niran Kanishka was denied a simple tap in off the rebound by Adjei Richards’ awareness.
Despite the best efforts of both team the respective defences held firm as the game entered the final twenty minutes. Afis Olayemi had a golden opportunity to square up a team mate as his soaring run saw him inside the New Young’s penalty area.
However he seemed to have taken a bit more time than necessary as the chance went a begging as the Visitors managed to track back in numbers. Colombo were clearly on the ascendency despite having nothing to show for their efforts. Although having a few openings on the counter, New Young’s didn’t really manage to make it count as they lacked clinical ability to make the hosts’ pay.
The closest they got to troubling the scores, was when Madushan Karunaratne launched a pile driver from 40 yards out which scraped the outside of the post on its way out. Colombo were only a matter of inches away from opening the score as a rising header went over the top of the bar.
Right at the depth Zarwan saw his shot blocked after the ball found his feet from the lighting break on the right. The came to an entertaining end as New Young’s earned a hard earned point against the defending champions as their title defence began with a goalless draw.
Full Time: Colombo FC 0 : 0 New Youngs SC
ThePapare.com Player of the match: Kaveesha Fernando
