Renown were unable to recover after going two goals down as Army took another step to retaining the FA Cup they won last year with a 3-1 win at Moragasmulla grounds.
Mohamed Issadeen and Sajith Kumara scored inside the opening quarter and Punsara Thiruna made it three but a late surge by Renown with Humaid’s goal was not enough for the six times champions.
Renown were at a huge disadvantage early on missing defensive stalwart Hakeem Kamil as he was deemed unavailable for the crunch battle. With midfielders drafted into the back four, Army took full use of the indecision as Issadeen scored in the 6th minute. Nine minutes later Sajith Kumara doubled the lead to a stunned Renown crowd.
As the match progressed Renown back four got their communication sorted and the confidence flowed through with the charismatic midfield which includes national players, Fazal Mohamed, Mohamed Rifnaz and Fazul Rahuman started to pull the strings. Renown were awarded a free kick and Shanmugaraja Sanjeev narrowly missed an open header from Fazal’s delivery.
Renown were starting to pose threats with a few corners when referee whistled for half time with Army in command on the scorecard.
Renown started off where they left with a cross into the box headed wide by Sanjeev. They were putting together a few passes and kept possession and only left Army to play on the counter attack. In one such counter attack Sajith Kumara made a marauding run on the right going to the byline and cutting back in for Issadeen only to see an alert defense clear the danger away.
Renown coach Mohamed Amanulla injected some schoolboy youth into the match bringing on the creative Mohamed Humaid. Thereafter a powerful dipping Fazul Rahuman free-kick went over the crossbar threatening the Army lead.
Against the run of play, Army made it three nil as Sajith Kumara played a one two with Issadeen going to the byline taking a shot and Punsara Thiruna was able to put away the rebound on the hour mark. Renown pushed men forward which left spaces behind the defense and a couple of chances were wasted by Issadeen.
Renown started the final quarter with a goal from the youngster, Humaid as he danced into the box nutmegging Kumara Sirisena and into the goal. Renown finished off strong with Farood Faiz shot hitting the side netting and Fazul’s long range effort going over.
“Performance was good. We need to sort out team combination. We played with a few injuries but nothing major. There is a flu going on and some of them are down with that. Tactics are the key. The changes didn’t give the expected change of the game I wanted,” Mohamed Fawmy, coach of Army told ThePapare.com
“We had Hakeem Kamil out. So huge dent in our plans as he is our main defender. Farood and Humai the school boys, they played well. I like young players can build them into future stars,” Amanullah added after the match.
Up-Country reign at Don Bosco
Up-Country advanced to the quarter finals with a 3-1 win over hosts Don Bosco. Nagoor Meera opened the scoring for the Lions as early as in the 4th minute and doubled it ten minutes later. Nadisha Fernando pulled a goal back for Don Bosco in the 24th minute and Abhika Aaron scored the 3rd for Up-Country in the 77th minute.
