De Mazenod College, Kandana came up from behind to defeat Nalanda College 4-2 after a second half surge of goals to qualify for the knockout stage of the U19 Division II Championship at the match held at Kelaniya Football Complex.
Despite De Mazenod being the favourites to win it was Nalanda College who pulled up the first few attacks conquering the Mazenodian half. De Mazenod was not quite settled whereas Nalanda made use of the situation and was the first to make an attempt at goal.
A nice set piece manoeuvre pulled off by Ranju Silva put the ball in the Nalandian half opening the Mazenodian attack where Captain Brian Chiran made no mistake in volleying the ball home after 10 minutes from kick off.
The goal encouraged the lads from Kandana to bring up more attacks but this consequently opened up large gaps in their midfield paving the way for a Nalandian comeback.
Mazenodian Raheem Deen was the first to be cautioned for unnecessary hard play, in a match which consisted of 8 yellow cards. Pasindu Tharuka of Nalanda also got into a bit of trouble with the referee having already being cautioned and received some stern words.
Nalanda finally capitalized on the Mazenodian midfield errors in the 27th minute and equalized with Dulaj Nilanka tapping the ball past the keeper into the bottom right corner.
Another mistake in midfield led to Mazenod conceding a penalty with keeper Romesh Chathuranga receiving a yellow card for his troubles. This time it was Prageeth Perera who scored giving the lead to the hosts.
With their tails on fire the visitors increased their attack repeatedly making attempts at goal but failed to convert any and had to go into half time trailing behind.
Half time – Nalanda College 2 – 1 De Mazenod College
After stern words from their coach De Mazenod came into the second half on full attack mode and constantly pressured up the field making the Nalandians defend for their lives.
An abundance of free kicks and corners came in to help the Kandana boys but they failed to convert any showing that set pieces weren’t their strong side.
Pasindu received his second yellow for a hard tackle on Dileepa Chathuranga and was sent off putting the hosts down to 10 men.
The barrage of attacks finally paid off for De Mazenod when Amesh Thiyanga’s shot rebounded off the woodwork and Raheem made a sweet header past the keeper making things level.
Dulaj tried to pull up some attacks with the aid of his teammates but the Mazenodian defence stood stubbornly never letting the ball come near their keeper.
Nalanda skipper Heesara Perera also received his second yellow for striking from behind and bad language and left his team helpless with only 9 players in the field.
Ranju once again proved to be pivotal for De Mazenod wreaking havoc in the left flank making constant crossings into the penalty box creating an array of chances to take the lead.
Goal machine Pramuditha Gunasekara took advantage of these breakthroughs and scored twice in the 71st minute and just before the final whistle to see De Mazenod through to the knockout stage of the U19 Division II Championship.
Full time – Nalanda College 2 – 4 De Mazenod College
ThePapare.com Player of the Match – Ranju Silva (De Mazenod College)
Goal Scorers
De Mazenod – Brian Chiran 10’, Raheem Deen 64’, Pramuditha Gunasekara 71’, 92’
Nalanda College – Dulaj Nilanka 27’, Prageeth Perera 31’
Bookings
Yellow cards
De Mazenod – Raheem Deen 14’, Romesh Chathuranga 30’, Pramuditha Gunasekara 34’, Ranju Silva 76’
Nalanda College – Pasindu Tharuka 19’, 54’, Heesara Perera 18’, 76’
Red cards
Nalanda College – Pasindu Tharuka 54’, Heesara Perera 76’
