Air Force SC rubbed salt into Saunders SC wounds as they beat them 2-0 to make it two defeats in a row for the latter, in a Dialog Champions League group B game worked off at Air Force grounds, Ekala.
The game kicked off in abysmal conditions with tyrant winds sweeping across the playing field. The visitors, Saunders were clearly uncomfortable ones things kicked off as the hosts Air Force seem to have an upper hand in familiar conditions.
To add to the Saunders woes the hosts got off the blocks in fifth gear pushing them on to the back foot from the word go. The Air Force skipper, Kavindu Ishan piled on more misery on the Price Park lads when he scored at the end of a scintillating move as early as the 13th minute.
Despite the visitors managing a healthy spell of possession, the remainder of the half was scrappy to say the least. With the conditions clearly unsettling their style of football along with the suspension for Suntharaj Niresh and a key injury for Dimindu Hettiarachchi at the back, meant that a make shift defense was up against it with a vibrant Air Force front line.
The half came to a close with the hosts walking out the happy out of the lot as Sanoj Sameera and co seemed to have mountain to climb whilst tackling dismal weather conditions.
The second half saw very little substance from both teams as the scrappy nature from the first half continued.
Although a few tricks and flicks from Abdel Mohamed and Traore Mohamed seemed to lit up the mood for the visiting supporters the lack of creativity and industry raised a few eyebrows.
With their ever reliable Chrishantha Abeysekara and Sameera struggling to stamp their authority in midfield Saunders hoped for nothing but a miracle to turn things around.
However it was not to be as Air Force seemingly put the tie out of site for the resource less visitors when Dilshan Sumeda Fernando hammered in a free kick from 25 yards out in the 66th minute.
There were very few flaws in the Air Force performance as things were seemingly going according to the script for them until Dimuthu Lakmal Gunasinghe has a rush of blood when he brought down Abdel with a rash challenge just outside his own penalty box in the 68th minute. He saw red as he was booked for a second bookable offense; he was walking on thin ice after he was previously booked for a rather silly challenge on the 57th minute.
With a good part of 20 minutes remaining to salvage a point the visitors were expected to turn up the heat on the numerically crippled hosts. Yet unfortunately for the spectators in the eye of the usual guile and venom were lost in the Saunders attack as they seemed to continue to struggle in unfamiliar conditions.
The Airmen reset their shape into a defensive form yet had very little to deal with as the visitors failed capitalize on their advantage.
The game came to a rather dull end as the hosts were more than content with clearing their line and disrupting the flow of the game. The hosts felt a familiar sinking feeling as they were left licking the wounds at the end of the game producing very little consequently losing their second game in a row in this year’s competition.
They’re left with a job at hand possibly having to win the remainder of their group fixtures to keep their Super 8 hopes alive.
In a game of bits and pieces the Air Force skipper Kavindu Ishan provided the little spark during the game. The pocket sized player proved to be a handful when ever he was on the ball with his quick feet and electrifying pace. His first goal and the game’s opening goal possibly added to icing on top of his cake as it got the ball running for the Airmen.
ThePapare.com Player of the Match: Kavindu Ishan (Air Force SC)
Goal Scorers
Air Force – Kavindu Ishan 13’, Sumeda Fernando 66’
Bookings
Yellow Cards
Air Force – D.K Duminda, Dimuthu Gunasinghe
Saunders SC – Chanuka Eranga, Niangoran Eudes (Saunders SC)Red Cards
Air Force – Dimuthu Gunasinghe
Substitutions
Saunders SC – Mohamed Shaheel (on) Indreewa Udara (off) 55’, W.A. Madusanka (on) Traore Mohamed (off) 77’
Air Force – Udesh Shanaka (on) D.K. Duminda (off) 74’, Rohan Fernando (on) Kalum Perera (off) 85’
