Joseph Vaz second half blitz down Holy Cross
Goals from Kalum Miranda, Nipuna Umesh and Chathura Madushan helped Joseph Vaz defeat Holy Cross College, Kalutara 3-1 at the Holy Cross grounds in the Kotmale Chox U19 Schools’ Football Championship.
Both sides have a rich history of football, producing many a national player. Most recent addition to the national side Sri Lanka U23 goalkeeper and Captain Sujan Perera hails from Holy Cross. Joseph Vaz who made the long trip down to Kalutara from Wennapuwa dominated possession but had their options curtailed by the Holy Cross defense.
Joseph Vaz keeping up to their reputation played an attacking brand of football from the opening whistle. The Kalutara defenders had their work cut out from the onset with Joseph Vaz constantly threatening to pierce the defense. The Wennapuwa lads finally had their break when Kalum Miranda broke the dead lock in the 25th minute with a wonderful placed goal. Joseph Vaz had to be contained with that solitary goal in the first half.
After the resumption Holy Cross played some positive football and they were rewarded for their hard work when the referee pointed to the penalty spot after a foul committed by Shanaka Weerakkody. Mohammed Shahami made no mistake as he calmly slotted the ball into the net to equalize for the home side in the 51st minute. After the initial shift in momentum Joseph Vaz seized their chances and started to dominate play. In the 70th minute they took the lead when Umesh Hapuarachchi scored from a through ball and 10 minutes later Chathura Madushan put the game beyond doubt with the third goal for Joseph Vaz.
Gallant comeback by Overseas
A goal by Sho Kubota deep into injury time rescued a point for Overseas School in their group D match as they came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Nalanda College at the Overseas Grounds.
That goal capped of a thrilling last 15 minutes for the hosts where they dominated, the Nalanda players who didn’t use any of their substitutes and couldn’t capitalize on the brace scored by Charuka Gayashan. But it was Nalanda who started the match brightly and had a few chances go begging.
Charuka Gayashan gave a deserved lead for the visitors in the 41st minute with a powerful strike past the goalkeeper. In the 57th minute he doubled their lead with another goal. As the match went into the final quarter of an hour it was Overseas School who started to attack with fresh legs on the park. They pulled a goal back in the 79th minute through John Fredericks. The hosts then piled on the pressure for an equalizer but the Nalanda defense held firm but were unable to prevent Sho Kubota’s goal in the dying seconds which sent the host fans into jubilation.
