Giants clash in Holcim FA Cup final

Kick off scheduled for 6.00 p.m. at Sugathadasa Stadium:

Bernard PERERA

SOCCER: Last year’s Holcim FA Cup runners-up Negombo Youth Sports Club and 2005 FA Cup runners-up Saunders Sports Club from Price Park, Pettah will clash in the final of the Holcim FA Cup 2007 tomorrow at the Sugathadasa Stadium. The kick off is scheduled for 6.00 p.m.

Saunders, the glamour boys of Sri Lankan soccer though they failed to clinch the Premier League for nearly three years have made a strong comeback this season while reaching the FA Cup final.

The Pettah Club who introduced many youngsters to the side scoring the last few years have done well in the FA Cup with the experience they gained during the Kit Premier League.

In addition they are getting the useful services of two foreigners in the German national Michael Klemn and Englishman Andrew John Mellitt.

These two experienced players have added in new strength to the Pettah Club combining well with the younger set of players.

The Youngsters too have co-operated with them in bringing the club into the final this season.

Meanwhile one time Kit Premier League Champions from Negombo too have done a fine job in reaching the final for a second consecutive season. The Negombo team which included seven national caps during their winning season 2005 ended up in the third slot in the Kit Premier League 2006.

Many of the national players who did services for the country in past two years did an excellent jobs in bringing their club to the final of the most prestigious soccer plum the Holcim FA Cup this season.

The Pettah Club in the pre-quarters defeated Gampola’s Kit Premier League opponent Red Sun SC one goal to nil. In the quarter-final Saunders met Cooray SC, the only team that qualified to reach the top eight from the Division I.

They outplayed them by three goals to nil to book the semi-final berth where they confronted the Air Force last Sunday at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Saunders won this game one goal to nil.

Negombo Youth Sports Club made their way to the final getting the better of the Kit Premier League Champions and Kit Champion of Champions Ratnam Sports Club from Kotahena five goals to three. For Ratnam SC it was the biggest setback this season.

The Kotahena Club which defeated Negombo Youth SC in both engagements previously in the Kit Premier League failed to live up to expectations. This was mainly due to their strikers failure to score when the need arose.

Earlier in the pre-quarter final Negombo Youth SC defeated debutants to the Premier League Youngsters SC from the Wennappuwa eight goals to nil.

Though they won this game with a big margin could not maintain the same momentum to secure will playing against Sri Lanka Army in the quarter-final. They scrapped to a two goals to one victory to reach the semi-final.

Saunders SC’s goal keeper has been a tower of strength for his side. He has not allowed anyone to score against him while his team strikers performed their part well to see them through to the final. From the pre-quarters onwards Pettah Club has scored eight goals while their opponents failed to get any.

On the other hand Negombo Youth SC strikers have brought in a rich harvest of goals scoring fifteen goals in only three games, but they conceded five to their opponents.

The Holcim FA Cup competition this season attracted 110 teams from all parts of the country with 109 matches completed upto now.

The Football Federation of Sri Lanka is keen to promote the sport in a big way, and spend heavily on these tournaments. But it was sad to note that during the semi-final matches only a single ball was provided. This lapse saw a lot of time wasted once the ball is out of playing area which frustrated the spectators.

They were not happy with this arrangement. It’s high time that the authorities take steps to remedy this situation for the benefit of the game as well as for the spectators’ interest.