Gateway College weathered a late comeback to secure a 4-3 win against S. Thomas’ College at the 6th Annual S. Thomas’ v Gateway Football Encounter played at the Big Club Grounds, Mount Lavinia.
With the win Gateway retained the Neville De Alwis – Ralph Alles Challenge Trophy for the 6th consecutive year.
S.Thomas’ began the game with a couple of free-kicks but did not manage to trouble goalkeeper Anuk Dassanayake. In the 5th minute captain Zaki Ashraff’s through-ball found Aidan Perera who dribbled past the onrushing goalkeeper A.T. Lawrence to calmly slot in the opener for the visitors.
Thomian skipper Mohamed Mukhtar’s individual brilliance created a few opportunities but the efforts were either not taken advantage of or narrowly missed the target. Hosts were punished for those missed chances as Perera’s through-ball allowed Rehan Jayesingha to score the 2nd in the 33rd minute.
7-minutes later Jayesingha turned provider when he laid the ball off to Perera, whose first time effort nestled into the top left corner to make it 0-3 at the half time break.
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Thomians made a couple of changes at the break to change the tide but it was once again Gateway who scored the 4th when Perera headed home from close range off a Raziel Ameen cross in the 54th minute.
It took S. Thomas’ until the 70th minute to score their first. Mukhtar managed to sneak in the goal through a maze of defenders after his initial effort was blocked. That sparked a resurgence in the Thomian camp and they had the 2nd a minute later as Mukhtar headed in at the near off a Mayanka Dias corner.
In the 76th minute J.R. Rajaduri was fouled inside the box and Mukhtar scored the resulting penalty to make it 3-4 and set up an interesting final 14 minutes. Hosts had a few chances to find the equalizer but Gateway held firm to come away with the victory.
Apart from the whirlwind 7 minutes where S. Thomas’ scored their three goals it was Gateway who controlled the game brilliantly with their passing, link-up play and keeping possession.
Match Summary
Goal Scorers
S.Thomas’ – Mohamed Mukhtar 70’, 71’ & 76’(P)
Gateway – Aidan Perera 5’, 40’ & 54’, Rehan Jayesingha 33’
Awards
Best Goalkeeper – Anuk Dassanayake (Gateway)
Golden Boot – Mohamed Mukhtar (S. Thomas’)
Most Valuable Player – Aidan Perera (Gateway)
Age Group Results & Awards
U12
S.Thomas’ 0 – 1 Gateway
Best Goalkeeper – K.M. Kanuldith (S. Thomas’)
Most Valuable Player – Abilesh Sivakumara (Gateway)
U14
S.Thomas’ 0 – 0 Gateway (S. Thomas’ won on penalties)
Best Goalkeeper – H.J. Perera (S. Thomas’)
Most Valuable Player – J.A.M. Wanigarathne (S. Thomas’)
U16
S.Thomas’ 0 – 4 Gateway
Best Goalkeeper – Imad Shareesh (Gateway)
Most Valuable Player – Dulina Wickramasinghe (Gateway)
Girls’ Match
Gateway 1 – 1 CIS (CIS on 2-0 penalties
Best Goalkeeper – Tharinya Warnakulage (Gateway)
Most Valuable Player – B.Y. Lee (CIS)
Old Boys’ Match
S.Thomas’ 0 – 0 Gateway (Gateway won 3-0 on penalties)
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