Al Husseinie College AIISIFT Champions

Yasaratne GAMAGE

Hameed Al Husseinie College, Colombo emerged champions in the All Island Inter School Invitation Football tournament 2013 when they defeated Lumbini College, Colombo by 3-0 in a penalty shoot out in the final worked off at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.

The final was very competitive from the first minute as both teams played attacking football to earn a goal. As a result the two finalists ended the game by leveling the goals , two for each giving the fans some more minutes to enjoy a deciding penalty shoot out.

It was Hameedians took the lead in the first half when M A M Azand booted a goal. Six minutes later Nadeesha Dilshan equalized for Lumbini. During the first half both teams wasted some really good chances for scoring a few goals. A M Mujahid of Al Husseinie College was shown a yellow card just before the half time.

When they started after the break it took some time for both teams to settle down as each other passed the balls aimlessly and missed target on few occasions. Desperately seeking a goal, Hameed Al Husseinie’s M M M Rizan who came to field as a reserve player netted a fantastic goal to give the lead to his team in the 57th minute.

Their joy did not last for long when Sarath Kumara of Lumbini equalized just two minutes before the final whistle. In the penalty shoot out Lumbini were shocked when their opponent goal keeper F M Ashik Mohamed saved two penalties while the other one was missed by the shooter.

Rizan again and Aazad and Afeel for Hameed Al Husseinie found the target consecutively scoring goals to give them a 3-0 win to grab the champions trophy. The final was really an exciting 60 minutes of football as a lot of fans from both sides had flocked to the stadium and enjoyed the skills of the school players.

On the same day Hindu College Colombo who defeated St Benedicts College by 2-0 secured the third place in the tournament. In the veterans’ category, Java Lane Veterans overcame Colombo Veterans by 1-0.