Gateway College came down from a goal twice to defeat S. Thomas’ College 3-2 to retain the Neville De Alwis – Ralph Alles Challenge Trophy at the Racecourse International Stadium.
Mahith Perera opened the scoring for the hosts, S. Thomas’, in the 6th minute, running through the heart of the Gateway defense. He rounded off the goalkeeper Anuk Dassanayake and slotted the ball in.
Gateway had the ball in the back of the net in the 13th minute, but was deemed offside. Gateway responded well after going behind keeping possession, while the Thomians relied on the counter-attack.
On one such occasion, S. Thomas’ disposed Gateway in their own half – Perera tried to score from the edge of the box with the goalkeeper out of position, but was unfortunately unable to find the target. For the 2nd time, the visitors had the ball in the back of the net, but were once again shown the off-side flag.
However, Gateway were third time lucky when Umar Shakil turned his defender inside the box and scored with his left in the 35th minute. In the 41st minute, Perera once again pounced on a Gateway mistake. Dassanayake fumbled a long-range effort from Ellawala at the feet of Perera, who, while scoring, was deemed to have handled the ball.
Half Time – S. Thomas’ 1 – 1 Gateway
After the break, the Thomians had a good opportunity when Ellawala broke down the right wing. With the goalkeeper rushing on, Ellawala’s effort from a tight angle could only find the side netting. The Thomians took the lead for the 2nd time in the game when the ball deflected off a Gateway defender, allowing Ellawala to break free and score past Dassanayake with under 20 minutes remaining.
In the 81st minute, the Thomian defense gave away a penalty which was neatly dispatched by Gateway Skipper Samunu Kaggodaarachchi to bring them back to level. A couple of minutes later, Gateway took the lead through Umar Shakil, who headed in from a fantastic free-kick. With that, Gateway College proved to be the winner as they beat S. Thomas’ for the 4th consecutive time.
Full Time – S. Thomas’ 2 – 3 Gateway
>> For more Football News Click Here <<
