Bodrie Dimitri scored with the final kick of the game as Colombo FC denied Army in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
Captain Rawme Mohideen gave Colombo FC an early lead through a deflected free kick with Madushan De Silva equalizing for Army just before half time.
Sajith Kumara headed from the near post giving Army the lead but Bodrie Dimitri pounced on an opportunistic goal with seconds left to rescue a point for Colombo FC.
Free scoring Army came into the match with little chance of title hopes while Colombo FC sitting second on the table, just two points behind Navy knew all three points would strengthen their championship aspirations.
Colombo FC got off to the perfect start when Rawme Mohideen’s free kick took a huge deflection off the wall and bounced into the goal leaving Army goalkeeper Kumara Sirisena stranded.
However it was Army who went on to dominate the rest of the half with no success.
Issadeen sent Thiruna Senanayaka free on the right flank, who raced to the byline putting in a cross to the six yard box but Sajith Kumara’s volley was tipped over for a corner by Mohomed Imran.
Issadeen then had the opportunity to equalize when he was sent clear of the defense, whose fierce left footed shot rattled off the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
Army were rewarded for their possession, territory and constant pressure on the Colombo defense when Madushan De Silva made it 1 all just before halftime. Senanayaka crossed the ball into the box where the initial shot was blocked but the rebound fell to Madushan who struck with an acrobatic volley.
Army started the second half where they left off with Colombo FC reduced to playing on the counter attack.
The nippy Madushan was causing havoc on the left flank and he put in a delightful through ball to Issadeen who took an early shot with just the keeper to beat but the ball bounced off the upright away from danger to the utter shock of Issadeen.
Ahamed Shazny had a rare opportunity to make it 2-1 for Colombo FC only to see his weak header cleared off the goal line.
Madushan was again in the thick of things as his dipping free kick forced substitute goalkeeper Mohomed Haslan into a brilliant save. Colombo FC weren’t lucky from the resulting corner kick when Sajith Kumara shrugged off the defenders and headed in at the near post from Madushan’s delivery.
Army’s prolific goal scorer Mohomed Issadeen, who has scored for fun this season couldn’t even score if the ball was mere inches away on the evening and must have been wondering where his magic touch has gone to, as two of his efforts were blocked and cleared off the line.
In the fourth minute of injury time Kumara Sirisena spilled a routine cross which fell at the feet of Bodrie Dimitri who made no mistake in sending the ball into the back of the net, to the sheer joy of his team and fans.
“I expected a tough match. Army dominated the match had chances but we were luckily to get away with one point. This is what this team is all about. We fight till the last second. We played a counter attacking game and it worked.” a satisfied Colombo FC coach Mohomed Roomy told ThePapare.com
“We are still in the title hunt. I will plan my tactics from match to match.” Roomy added when asked about the Championship push.
