Ratnam SC v Sun Shine SC - Premier League Division II - Kelaniya Football Complex - 25/09/2016 E.F.Kenneth (L) and Katie Tiagou (R) tussle for the ball.
The famous Champions League team but now relegated Ratnam SC managed to scrape past Sun Shine SC with a score of 2 – 1 in a rather fierce Premier League Division II replay encounter held at Kelaniya Football Complex yesterday (25th).
Ratnam SC who won their first match of the season against Sun Shine SC played at M.H.Mohamed Grounds with a score of 3 – 1 but were forced to replay the match for the use of 3 foreign players in that game.
According to Division II rules a team can only play 2 foreign players in a game. In their defence Ratnam SC states that they did not receive the letter of rules & regulations prior to the match, hence the officials had decided to replay the match rather than handing over the win to Sun Shine SC.
Photo Album: Ratnam SC v Sunshine SC – Premier League Div II 2016
The replay match saw attacking dominance by Ratnam SC right from the start where Katie Tiagou played a key role with his strong runs up the left flank dismantling the Sun Shine defence.
The Ratnam defence did not seem that confident in the beginning and seemed rather shaky with the ball. This nearly caused them to concede a goal when a pass to the keeper saw the ball come back towards a Sun Shine player, but the player’s side volley was not strong enough to make its way into the goal and was headed to safety by the Ratnam center back.
A rebound off Sun Shine right back K.L.M.Silva who was unable to control the pass saw Tiagou taking possession of the ball and slicing through the defence to make a sweet shot at goal. But K.S.C.Sujeewa managed to make a superb dive and lock the ball in his hands.
Immediately after, Ratnam scored their first goal when the ball was re-routed to the right flank where S.D.Jayasekara made a gentle cross towards Abdul Cader who made no mistake in heading the ball into the goal.
Sun Shine SC equalized not long after when S.A.H.P.Perera’s floating long range shot miraculously dipped into the goal much to everyone’s surprise including Perera’s.
Ratnam SC dominated the rest of the first half and made many attempts on goal with Tiagou, Abdul and Aman sharing the shots between themselves.
The score line would have been much worse for Sun Shine SC if not for Sujeewa’s brilliant saves despite the heavy Ratnam attack.
Abdul Cader put his name into the score card for the 2nd time when S.Maduranga’s lob pass saw Tiagou and Abdul charging through the defence together and Abdul nicely slotting the ball into the top right corner of the goal.
Yellow cards were shown to both S.B.Aravinda of Ratnam SC and M.N.M.Nifras of Sun Shine SC when a scuffle broke out between the two after Nifras’ tackle on Aravinda.
The fight seemed to have seeped into the crowd as well when a disturbance among the fans delayed the half time whistle by about 10 minutes.
Ratnam received a second yellow card when M.F.M.Aman tackled A.H.M.Rushdi from behind just before the half time whistle.
Half time – Ratnam SC 2 – 1 Sun Shine SC
The second half turned out to be more of a rough and tumble than a football match with dangerous tackles flying everywhere, many of which the referee seemed to turn a blind eye on.
Katie Tiagou received the worse end of these tackles where he was apparently used for slip tackle practice by the Sun Shine players.
S.M.M.Rukshan received a God-given opportunity to equalize when he was one-on-one with the keeper but his fraction of a second delay saw Chiendu John slipping by to block his shot much to the dismay of the Sun Shine fans.
The referee’s decision was once again called to question when he disallowed Katie Tiagou’s goal ruling it out as offside when the linesman hadn’t even raised his flag. Many wondered how the referee was able to see an offside play when the linesman couldn’t.
Ratnam was brought down to 10 men when M.F.M.Aman was sent off with 2 yellow cards for another dangerous tackle.
The game seemed to rain yellow cards when E.F.Kenneth of Sun Shine SC also received one for his dangerous play. But much to everyone’s surprise Nifras managed to avoid getting another yellow card despite his visibly aggressive play.
Full time – Ratnam SC 2 – 1 Sun Shine SC
ThePapare.com Player of the Match: Abdul Cader (Ratnam SC)
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