Abrupt end to soccer final

Bernard Perera

SOCCER: The final of the Mercantile Football Association organised A Division knock-out tournament between Lake House and HNB had to be called off when heavy rain came down during the break. At this stage scores were level at one-all.

Into the eighth minute Kasun Jayasuriya who is the top scorer during the tournament netted in the goal to put Lake House in front. But HNB fought back strongly and equalised in the 20th minute. There onwards it was a ding dong battle.

The thirtieth minute saw the unexpected happen when referee sent off Kasun Jayasuriya. This was made when a HNB player pulled him but referee did not penalise the offender. When Jayasuriya questioned the referee he pulled out the red card on him. The Lake House team walked off the field.

Referee held on for nearly 15 minutes with HNB players on the field. After a lengthy discussion the Lake House players came back and the game continued, and five minutes later half time was whistled and the players went off the field. But the heavy rains that came before the commencement of the second half continued and the organisers had to call off the game.

The Mercantile Federation officials must take full responsibility for the unexpected happening as they failed to appoint a match commissioner. For earlier games match commissioners were seen.

Now it is left for the Association to decide whether to have a replay or not. The Association will get only one side of the story (referee's report) if an inquiry is held. If a match commissioner was present the inquiry will have two versions to look at.

The football fans will have to wait for the decision of the MFA.