Sri Lanka Army proved once again they deserve the top spot in group A, beating Nandimithra SC 5-0 at Longdon Place, after a couple of tough weeks.
The once cruising Army were halted by Air Force two weeks back ending their unbeaten streak while last week Renown stole a draw with a last minute penalty. For Nandimithra SC after a good start to the season they have endured mixed results having been beaten 5-0 by Saunders but bouncing back to win 3-2 against defending Champions, Solid SC.
The first goal of the match was scored by Army midfielder Sajith Kumara converting a beautiful cross by Mohamed Issadeen. Shortly afterwards they scored their second goal when Issadeen himself beat Nandimithra goalkeeper Pradeep Prasanna on his second try. Both these goals came at ease for Army as their opponents’ defense was all over the place. It was unfortunate because this did not change course as the match progressed.
Army taking advantage of the poor positioning by Nandimithra, went on to score two more goals before the half time whistle was blown. The third goal of the match came off the head of Thiruna Senanayake, comfortably passing Pradeep to find the back of the net.
The fourth goal was also scored by Thiruna who seemed to be on a role this evening. The kick in from Issadeen was punched away by Pradeep but this time, Thiruna was there for Issadeen’s aid.
Nandimithra playing an all offensive game might have led to this disastrous outcome; but unfortunately they were unable to capitalize and left the defense wide open for the rest of the match as well. First half ended with Army leading with 4 goals to Nil.
Second half kicked off with an even more aggressive Army team which was not good news for Nandimithra. With a goalkeeper substitution for Army SC, they seemed to be quite confident of a win this evening on the muddy field of CR & FC.
Army was unstoppable in the second half as they secured majority of possession leaving very little space for their opponents to strike. Mohamed Rimshan added his name to the list of scorers as he was responsible for the 5th and final goal of the match with a low 20 yard kick blinding Pradeep and the defenders all together. Rest of the game went goal-less and ended with no added time and a magnificent win for Army SC of 5-0.
ThePapare.com Man of the Match: Punsara Thiruna
“The boys were definitely not at their best today, and the ground conditions might have made a difference as well. However, Army is a tough club to face, so we look forward to learn from this match and do better in the games to come,” a disappointed Nandimithra coach told ThePapare.com at conclusion of the match.
