Air Force hold Saunders to a draw

Bernard Perera

Sri Lanka Air Force made sure of their semi-final berth in the ongoing Dialog Champions League when they settled for a nil-all draw with Saunders Sports Club yesterday at the City Football League grounds.

Saunders SC from Price Park played a fine game yesterday with the sole intention of making an effort to reach the semis. A win in this game would have definitely given Saunders a slight chance of moving forward. Saunders will now only have to maintain their position in Group ‘A’ to keep their place intact in the Champions League for next season.

The first half was evenly contested and none could find the net to go in front. Both sides made many inroads to each others territory but failed to capitalise from those as their strikers could not find the correct target. Both custodians had to work hard to foil the attacks that came towards them. The only Britisher playing for Saunders SC, Andrew Mollit who normally mans the defence line worked the ball well moving up and down to feed his front runners.

Saunders skipper who missed four games due to a ban, was back in the side and played a decent game yesterday. But he also became the only Saunders player to receive the yellow card from referee Anura de Silva. All in all Saunders played a disciplined game yesterday compared to other matches where referees had to face many tough situations.

Airmen who have never won a league title are getting closer to achieving their ambition. They will have to concentrate more on their movements and their strikers too must correct their mistakes to score off every opportunity that comes their way.

Ratnam win

Meanwhile in another game in the same group Ratnam SC trounced their home town rivals Old Bens SC, four goals to one at CR and FC grounds yesterday.

In a Group B encounter Police Sports Club overcame Sri Lanka Army three goals to two. Police’s victory will bring them a step up in this group which is wide open.