Police SC and Upcountry Lions SC battled it out in an unforgettable dialog Champions league match today at the Police park grounds.
The better half of the match was played during heavy rain, which was not made a hindrance by the players on the field and gave it their all which ended the thriller in a draw with two goals each.
The ever dominant Police team didn’t seem to be at their level best at the start of the match today, even though they were performing on home grass. The guests however found their groove early on with the ball and created some wonderful goal opportunities for their side. The Lions took full advantage of the uncoordinated hosts who lacked the ability to gain possession, almost at all, in the first half.
10 minutes into the game, Upcountry Lions had already had multiple free kicks and fouls in their favor, but was unable to convert any. Although the guests were playing predominantly better than the home team, they definitely seemed most unfit out of the two. With many legal and illegal fouls occurring rapidly, play went on.
Sujith Sanjeewa of Police SC almost took home a dreadful own goal but survived the misery as Goalkeeper keenly followed the ball and punched it over the goal post. At this point, the guests had managed to launch a free kick spree with all possible scoring breaks; but goalie Dumith Shashika of Police was not ready to give in to the maiden goal of the match just yet.
The weather conditions had worsened towards to end of the first 45 minutes but play still continued between Upcountry Lions and Police SC. One might argue that the weather had major influence on the first two goals of the match, both scored by the guests. Nevertheless foreign player Abheka Aaron of the away team took advantage of a confused defense line and calmly rolled one in to the goal putting their team in the lead. Not long after, a 15 yard crossover also found its way to the back of the net off of S. Armed’s boot. This second goal took almost everyone present at the match by utter surprise as it was barely a buildup to a goal.
Almost straight after the second goal Jhonson Shaibu almost headed another in to make the lead 3-0 by the end of the first half but ended up missing the target by a smidge. While the guests seemed to be on a roll, the stadium was filled with disappointed and angry fans of Police SC who were also stunned by the sudden goals. With Police making their first substitution of the match with the hope of turning their luck around, the referee blew the whistle ending the first half.
The second half brought in a much more confident and focused Police team on to the field as they gained immediate control of the ball. A definite change of tactic and strategy was seen at play by the hosts as they stuck to a more offensive approach to keep their rival goalkeeper M. Luthfi busy. Luthfi was spectacular in the second half as he was put to daring tests one after the other with no break, and he managed to save multiple goals against his team.
The extreme attacks from Police were not guarded by the Lions’ defense line well enough as finally towards the 10th minute of the match, Luthfi was exposed to an easy goal off the boot of Sampath Pathirana. The hosts did not stop to celebrate the achievement, as they were running against the clock. With just under 5 minutes remaining Police was trying desperately to score an equalizer. They did well to secure the ball on their half and keep pressure on their opponents. It seemed like they got their break when a dangerous free kick, right on target, was saved by Luthfi with far left dive, keeping hope alive for the Lions’ win.
With just over a minute to go in this wet and muddy football match, Ashan Siriwardene of Police scored their miracle goal with a marvelous intercepting low header, only to beat helpless Luthfi for the second time of the day.
With the loud celebrations from the stands, and a disappointed bench over the guest’s side, the match ended in a draw with 2 goals each.
ThePapare.com Man of the Match: Abheka Aaron
