G.P.C Appuhamy scored a stunning hat-trick as he inspired St. Sebastian’s, Katuneriya to a 5 – 0 win over St. Thomas’ College, Matara in the Kotmale Chox Schools’ U19 Football Championship group match at the Football Federation Grounds, Matara.
Appuhamy started the scoring in just the 8 th minute of the game as he smashed the ball into the back of the net after getting the ball directly from the Goal Keeper at the center line.
The flamboyant Sebastian lads applied persistent pressure on the home side throughout the game and in the 21 st minute Appuhamy entered the box once again to score the 2 nd goal of the game to put his team ahead by 2.
The joy didn’t long for the Sebastianites as their key player Appuhamy was shown a yellow card in the 34 th minute and warned by the referee about his behaviour in the game.
Both teams engaged in a feisty tussle to shoot the ball towards goal but no one got a chance until J.A.N.D Appuhamy was assisted by W. Fernando, but he failed to capitalize as his header hit the bar.
The Sebs were just too strong for the Thomians and did not allow them to get into many attacking positions right throughout the game.
The struggling Thomians got a golden chance to score an easy goal inside the box but it went invain as the Thomian striker sent it astray.
The Sebastianites too missed a few opportunities but went into the changing room at half time 2 – 0 up in the game.
The start of the 2 nd half saw the playing a much better game than they did in the 1 st half. The Thomian Captain in particular, led by example, going on the offensive alone by beating the powerful Sebastianite defense but his shot too was denied by the post.
Maduwantha scored for the Sebastianites to put the Thomians on the back foot once again.
The Thomian game was in disarray and taking this as an opportunity, the Sebastianite lads extended their lead with a goal from Fernando which was assisted by their striker Appuhamy.
The Sebastianite captain Kaveesha Deneth entered the box by nutmegging a Thomian defender and beat the goal keeper to put his name in the score card in the final minutes of the game. The Sebastianites won a corner kick in injury time but while the corner kick being taken a tussle broke out and spectators invaded the pitch too. After the incident, Sebastian’s key player Appuhamy was sent out with after being shown a red card shown for his misbehavior in the game. In addition to him 3 players were sent off (1 Seb and 2 Thomians).
The Papare.com Man of the match – G.P.C Appuhamy.
Goal scorers
Sebastian’s :
- G.P.C Appuhamy 3,
- Maduwantha
- Fernando
Red cards :
- Appuhamy and Fernando (Sebastian’s)
- Tharushan Kavinda and Kaveesha Deneth (St. Thomas’)
