FA Cup 2010:

Class soccer expected at FA Cup final

Bernard Perera

The final of the most prestigious Holcim FA Cup 2010 between Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club and Nandimithra Sports (CSF) is scheduled to kick off at 3.30 p.m. tomorrow at the Police ground.

The FA Cup championship is considered as the tournament which gives the opportunity for clubs of all Divisions to compete and to reach the top. By this the lesser known Clubs too are able to compete against the leading Clubs and outplay them whenever the opportunity arises and reach the top.

This year the same happened and all top ranking Clubs in the island Saunders SC, Ratnam SC, Renown SC, and many other teams that play in Division I and II failed to reach the final.

After the introduction of the Holcim FA Cup five years ago Ratnam SC have won the Championship thrice while Negombo Youth SC, and Sri Lanka Police have won it once.

The Sri Lanka Navy team is skippered by Ajith Kumara who also serves as the goal keeper for the sailors. It is also notable to mention that Navy skipper becomes the first player to appear in two Cup finals representing two Clubs.

Earlier he did service for Negombo Youth Sports Club team when they won the Cup in 2008. Ajith has a big responsibility towards his team on this day working to halt the goal hungry Nandimithra SC strikers from scoring.

On the other hand the Nandimithra Sports Club captain S. Madushan too come out with his team mates for this Cup final after a very impressive season under their belt. During the tournament they completely dominated by outshining the many a top teams who were fancied to reach the final.

Considering the form of these two teams a prediction cannot be made. But it for sure that a keen game soccer is expected on this day.

The most interesting part of this final is that both teams are coached by Mahinda Palitha former National player. The spectators will be wondering as to on what bench he is to sit.

This also happens to be the first occasion that two teams coached by a single person for the same tourney entering a final is a record that will be there for a long period. This also becomes an interesting for spectators to see how the coach had groomed the teams to clash in a final of this calibre. It is left for the players to perform according to the situation that come their way.

The team that plays better soccer and who really act to the situation is sure to come out as victors in this game to away with the prestigious Holcim Cup and the cash award to the value of rupees 350,000.

The runner up takes a purse worth 200,000.

This year’s championship attracted a total of 106 teams from all parts of the Island and a total of 106 matches were played in 30 venues. Nearly 50 referees served during the season where they served 27 red cards, while the number of warnings were 130. It was also noted that 30 matches were decided on tie breakers.