St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna scored five past Holy Cross College, Kaluthara in a second half blitz in the U18 Division I Schools’ Football Championship held at St. Patrick’s College grounds, Jaffna.
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Holy Cross College, last year’s runners-up of the same competition travelled to the north to face the new force in Sri Lankan schools’ football St. Patrick’s College, 2016 Division II runners-up, who registered a name for themselves in the last year’s Kotmale Chox U19 Schools’ Football Championship.
St. Patrick’s started off the proceedings by winning a free kick as Haines delivered in a floating free kick but Regikumar Shanthan failed to keep his shot within the post. Following the speedy start, both teams showed attacking mind set by creating opportunities on both the sides of the pitch.
Defence of both teams were put into pressure and that resulted in some unwanted tackles which didn’t just earn some players from St. Patrick’s yellow cards but also stalling the flow of the game. Both teams went into the half time with no goals but the match was set up for a mouth-watering second half.
Half Time – St. Patrick’s College 0 – 0 Holy Cross College
St. Patrick’s upped their game in tremendous manner by catching the Holy Cross defense off guard in the early stages of the second half. In the 47th minute, Chris Reeban scored the first goal of the match which ultimately opened the flood gates for St. Patrick’s.
Shanthan doubled the tally pouncing on the rebound of Haines’ shot. Skipper of St. Patrick’s College Abheeshan joined the party as he slotted home the third goal killing all the hopes of Holy Cross players.
Despite showing more intent, Holy Cross sinked into the score board pressure as they couldn’t find a way to get into the game. In the 67th minute, Shanthan again pounced onto the handling error of Nuwan Sadeepa Perera as he earned a brace for his name.
The goal sparked some uproar from Holy Cross players who argued with the referee. But the players continued and Shanthan grabbed his hat trick with a wonderful header timing his jump expertly to deposit the ball into the back of the net.
Holy Cross further showed their displeasure on the refereeing by arguing vigorously with the referee without continuing the match. The referee couldn’t control the situation as Holy Cross walked out of the pitch with eleven minutes remaining in the clock. The match ended without seeing f off 90 minutes.
Full Time – St. Patrick’s College 5 – 0 Holy Cross College
ThePapare.com Player of the Match – Regikumar Shanthan
Speaking to ThePapare.com was the coach of St. Patrick’s College, Venice Merin;
“It was unnecessary for Holy Cross to walk off after going down 5-0. The match was done and dusted after the third goal. If it was a tight match and a tight call, it could have been justified but that was not the case here. We saw some room for improvement in our performance and we will work on it in the upcoming games.”
Master-in-Charge of Holy Cross College, Chamodh Peiris;
“Our players played well. After the second goal, their players played very recklessly and the referee didn’t take any action. They even contested and took the ball when the goalkeeper was keeping it in his hands. We didn’t expect this result but it won’t affect in our coming matches. We have five more matches and we will focus on them. The refereeing was really poor.”
Goal Scorers
St. Patrick’s College – Chris Reeban 47′, Regikumar Shanthan 52′, 67′ & 68′, S. Abheeshan 62′
Yellow Cards
St. Patrick’s College – A. Preesan, R. Shanthan, Chris Reeban
