Renown SC vs Blue Star SC - DCL Super 8 Week 1 - Racecourse Stadium - 03/09/2016 - Mohamed Rizni (L) and Nasiru Opayemi (R) contest for possession
Blue Star SC sprung a surprise on favourites Renown SC, as a disciplined defensive performance saw them register a remarkable 2-0 win in their first game of the DCL Super 8 stage.
The game got off to an electric start with Blue Star playing a high pressing game and forcing the Renown team into making mistakes, and creating opportunities for themselves.
Afonja Jibola went on a mazy run cutting through a couple of defenders and broke into the box but skewed his final effort wide of the goal, much to the relief of the Renown defence.
Blue Star went close again when Right Back Rizkhan had a header saved on the line by a Renown defender, and Fahir Ali also went close with a header as Blue Star were a real threat from set pieces.
They got the goal they deserved when Channa hit a pile-driver from range on to the crossbar and with the goalkeeper caught off guard, Mohammed Farzeen headed the rebound in to give Blue Star the lead in the 22nd minute.
Renown struggled to create many openings in the first half as Fazal and Riyaz Ahamed went the closest, neither testing Manjula Fernando in the Blue Star goal.
The gamble to play the youngster Riyaz Ahamed did not pay off as Renown brought on Shamil Ahamed to replace him in the 37th minute in a tactical reshuffle to negate the Blue Star threat.
Half Time – Renown SC 0-1 Blue Star SC
The second half got off to a similar start as the first with Blue Star pressing high up the field causing problems for Renown. However as the half progressed Renown started to grow into the game, but difficult chances for Shamil Ahamed, Fazul Rahuman and Mohamed Rifnaz all failed to test the keeper.
Blue Star had a great chance to take a 2-0 lead when Channa swung in a pinpoint cross to find Idowu Hameed in the box, but from point blank range Mohammed Uzman made a superb save to deny the midfielder a goal.
Blue Star then had a goal disallowed as despite Farzeen bundling the ball over the line, play was called back for an infringement on Uzman in the Renown goal.
Renown started to grow more and more urgent in their forays forward looking to capitalize on the pace of their forwards, which left them exposed defensively. E.B. Channa showed he had the quality to exploit the space available and put the Blue Star 2-0 up in the 82nd minute after getting round the keeper and chipping the ball over the back- pedalling defender and into the goal off the crossbar.
Blue Star were happy to sit back and defend for the remainder of the second half, and saw the game out to get their Super 8 campaign off to a flyer with what turned out to be a brilliant team performance. Renown on the other hand was left with much to ponder upon in the weeks to come.
Full Time – Renown 0 – 2 Blue Star SC
ThePapare.com Player of the Match – E.B. Channa (Blue Star SC)
Speaking to Coach Amanullah of Renown, he had this to say “They played well in a game that we fancied our chances of winning. Our striker Job Michael was unwell with dengue last week and we didn’t have time to prepare an adequate replacement and we also didn’t take the chances that came out way. We were playing after a while so some of our passing wasn’t quite up to the mark, but I’m confident we’ll bounce back. We have time to prepare for the next game, but National Pool training has complicated things a bit for us as Afam and Nippu are in the squad..”
Also he went on to talk about the red card incident in the Army- Air Force game and had this to say “So today an Army player got sent off for bad-mouthing the referee, it’ll be interesting to see if he also receives a one year ban like one of my players did.”
Speaking to jubilant Coach Karunaratne of Blue Star, he had this to say “I’m really pleased at the way we played today and also in the game against Solid that we won to get here. Now that we’re in the Super8 the players coaches and management are all working together to try and win the trophy. I didn’t have much time to make the necessary adjustments to our style of play but we adapted well to win today’s game. (On E.B. Channa being in the news as of late) Today was a real standout performance from him, showing us what he is capable of and he has the quality to play even in the National team but he has some problems of his own which we cannot solve.”
