The solitary penalty goal by Dammika Ratnayake was enough to secure Navy SC their first victory of the Super 8 round by 1-0 over Air Force SC. This was the final match of DCL Super 8 Week 4, played at the Kelaniya Football Complex.
Navy SC were the only ones who were able to gain points last week with a 2-2 draw against Blue Star SC while Air Force SC had to suffer a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Colombo FC.
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With only a couple of goal chances and an injury scare, the first 20 minutes or so was more of a scrappy affair with neither team being able to play with conviction.
There after airman Kavindu Ishan took the initiative and went wild around his opponents defence and would have scored a couple had his shots been on target.
The sailors also came up with attacks of their own and even though they were struggling with their flow of play, they were rewarded with a penalty when Chathuranga Sanjeewa was brought down by the Air Force custodian. Dammika Ratnayake put it in to make it 1-0 for Navy.
Half time – Navy SC 1 – 0 Air Force SC
Few minutes into the second half another penalty was awarded, this time in favour of Air Force. Chalana Chameera was found guilty of handling Kavindu’s shot within the penalty box.
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Udayanga Reginold made sure Navy held the lead making a comfortable save off Kavindu Ishan’s kick.
The game seemed to get a bit physical after that with many players requiring medical attention. Things got ugly when K. Sudarshan of Navy and Nuwan Welgamage of Air Force had a few heated words exchanged. Nuwan Welgamage hit the grass as K. Sudarshana was pulled away by his team mates to prevent the situation getting out of hand.
A hat-trick of corners during injury time could not save the airmen as the final whistle was blown by the referee ending the match in favour of Navy SC.
Full time – Navy SC 1 – 0 Air Force SC
ThePapare.com Player of the Match – Chathuranga Sanjeewa (Navy SC)
Speaking to ThePapare.com Navy Coach Dammika Athukorale said;
“This was an important and a much needed win for us, especially against a Forces side. Today we made less or no mistakes, that really helped us. We played on a counter as we were missing a few players. It is important to keep this momentum going into the next three rounds and the next tournaments,” he added.
Goal scorers
Navy SC – Dammika Ratnayake 41′
Bookings
Yellow cards
Navy SC – Dammika Rathnayake 24′, Chalana Chameera 47′ & 88′
Air Force SC – Dimuthu Lakmal Gunasinghe 29′, Ruwan Arunasiri 39′, Kolitha Lankesara 70′Red cards
Navy SC – Chalana Chameera 88′
