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by Bernard Perera

A superb second half tally from Sri Lankan soccerites brought a respectable draw against Vietnam in the third and final match at the Sugathadsa Stadium under lights yesterday. However the Vietnam won the three match series 1-0 as they won the first game 2-1 last Wednesday.

Sri Lankans played better in this game than the first two games. If they performed the same in the too earlier games the result would have been in favour of the local side. In the first session of play Lankans managed to hold the highly placed Vietnamese at bay. This session also saw Lankans miss about scoring opportunities through free kicks. All these five kicks came in the first session of play and also placing too being from 25-30 metres away from the goal on the right side.

Lemons were taken with a nil score sheet. Three minutes after the turn around Vietnamese who were on the attack got the opportunity of going ahead when M.M. Hamza's header misled the custodian Dhammika Senarath. This brought more pressure on the locals and had to work hard to keep the attackers at bay while trying to get the equaliser.

Vietnam moved the move in diafferent style to baffle the Lankans. In the 18th minute when referee offered a free kick for a fault of a Lankan defender 35 metres away from the net. Le Huynh sent a sorcher into the goal put his side further ahead. From this point onwards Lankans commenced its onslaught strongly to trouble the visitors from both sides. This was highly rewarded in the 28th minute when opponent's custodian made a mistake just outside the box for which referee offered a free kick. Skipper Dudley Steinwal moving from defence line took the kick and sent it direct to right corner of the net to reduce the lead 2-1.

The struggle for supremacy heigtended at this stage and the locals moved closer to the net and high dividends came three minutes later. Striker Chathura Maduranga pierced through the strong defence after collecting the ball from a metre and positioned himself well to score the equaliser. This score line stood until the final whistle.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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