Kalutara Park created the upset of the Dialog Champions League tournament as they came from a goal down to beat the high riding Solid SC 2-1 at the Vernon Fernando Stadium in Kalutara.
Kalutara Park who are struggling in the bottom of Group B pulled this off against the Group Leaders. A thrilling encounter emerged from the opening whistle and it was Solid SC who took the early lead in the 7th minute through A. Shola. The home side responded in the 22nd minute when their African playmaker T. Daniel scored after a beautiful passage of play. The first half ended at 1 all. After the restart Solid attacked from all sides but the Kalutara Park defense held firm. 13 minutes from full time W. De Silva scored the 2nd and what proved to be the winner for the Kalutara Park boys.
Vicky’s hattrick sealed a crushing 4-0 victory for Don Bosco over Pelicans SC in Negombo. Vicky opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a wonderfully taken goal. W.A. De Silva scored in the 32nd minute and the teams went into half time with Don Bosco having a comfortable 2-0 lead. Vicky completed his hattrick when he scored in the 72nd and 81st minute.
A goal fest of 9 goals was scored at the CR & FC grounds as the free scoring Army SC beat New Youngs 6-3 in their Group B match. The ever reliable Mohammed Issadeen scored a hattrick and his strike partner D.M. De Silva scored a brace for the winners. A relatively quite first half ended with Issadeen scoring in the 32nd and Kolawole equalizing right on half time for each team. Army started the second half brightly as they scored 3 goals in 15 minutes. D.M. De Silva scored his brace in the 49th and 52nd minutes. Issadeen scored his second in the 58th minute. New Youngs managed to contain the scoring and scored a goal of their own in the 76th minute through D.Piusla. As the match came to the final minutes Army’s superior fitness was evident as they pressed for another goal and T.Senanayaka delivered one in the 89th minute. Right after A.N. Perera scored New Youngs 3rd and Issadeen got hattrick goal injury time.
Renown beat The Up-Country Lions 2-1 in a Group B mid table battle. Patrick Wilson scored the Lions only goal in the 29th minute. Renown equalized through K.D. De Silva on the stroke of half time. The winner was scored by inform Mohammed Fazal in the 63rd minute.
Air Force SC defeated Matara City Club 2-1 at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Air Force took the lead in the 45th minute through L. Gunasinghe. Air Force dominated the match but were unable to find the new on a few occasions. K. Ishan scored the 2nd for Air Force in the 71st minute. O.V. Ikenna scored the consolation goal for the Matara City Club in injury time.
Navy SC kept their hunt for the top spot in Group A with a 3-1 win over the struggling New Youngs SC. N.C Fernando gave Navy their opening goal in the 20th minute. D.M. Migara made sure that Navy went into half time in a strong position with 2 goals in the 28th and 45th minutes. In the second half New Youngs could not mount a comeback and was only able to score a single goal in the 75th minute through veteran Chathura Gunarathne.
Super Sun SC drew 1-1 against Java Lane at the Vernon Fernando Stadium. Mohammed Riskhan scored for Java Lane in the 21st minute. After some hard work and dogged defending Super Sun managed to score the equalizer in the final minutes of play to secure a valuable point.
In a much anticipated encounter Colombo FC hosted Ratnam SC at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Even though Colombo FC was formed recently the club has a fierce rivalry with a couple of Colombo based clubs including Ratnam. In a tense atmosphere both sides played an attacking game but neither side managed to score in the first half. Right after half time M. Yogaraja gave Ratnam the lead with a wonderful strike. A.C. Frank scored for Colombo FC in the 73rd as the match ended in a 1 all draw.
