Two goals in the first half was enough for Navy SC to secure all three points against Police SC who couldn’t find a way to breach the Navy defense in the Dialog Champions League 2016 fixture held at Police Park.
Navy SC came into the match after their narrow 1-0 victory over less fancied Thihariya Youth SC while Police SC shared the points against Air Force SC at the same venue last Sunday. Both teams looked for the elusive victory to make sure they stay in the top half of the table.
Navy SC settled quickly into the after referee started the proceedings. The front men of Navy SC proved too quick and fast for the Police defense that looked rusty at the start of the match.
Match had to be halted as early as in the 5th minute as result of a bad collision between Nirmal Wijethunga and a Police SC defender. Nirmal Wijethunga was taken out of the pitch for some medical attention for few minutes.
Photo Album – Police SC v Navy SC | Group Stage | DCL16
Not flustered by the happenings, Navy SC continuously found ways to get into the penalty area of Police SC and piled on pressure by winning Corners after corners.
Navy SC was rewarded for all their hard work when Dammika Rathnayaka scored the first goal of the match in the 18th minute. It was a lucky break for Navy SC as at first sight it looked like Rathnayaka was trying to find a player with a cross but the ball settled into the back of the net to give Navy SC a well-deserved lead.
Police SC tried to level things out but their efforts lacked power and precision. In the 29th minute, Navy SC put the match to bed by scoring the second goal. The bandaged Nirmal Wijethunga tapped the ball into an open goal, thanks to hard work done by Chrishantha Perera who made mockery of three Police defenders before hitting the bar with a chip.
Navy SC negotiated the rest of the first half safely to go into the half time with two goals cushion.
Half Time: Police SC 0-2 Navy SC
Police SC started the second half showing more intent as they worked the ball and moved forward while attacking.
Navy SC was happy to take a step back and defend. They took some long range shots to slow matters down and to stop the flow of Police SC attack.
The first booking of the match came on the 53rd minute when A.A.Ranish got yellow carded for late challenge.
Police SC lost the patience and momentum as the clock ticked down towards the end. The players tried to take things into their own hand and tried to burst through Navy defense single handedly but the calm and composed Navy SC defenders showed composure to stop the attack without much fuss.
The frustration led to few unwanted tackles resulting in two Police SC players getting booked. The coach and the spectators showed their dissatisfaction sound and clear at some decisions made by the referee.
Sameera Jayasinghe tried a long range effort in the dying minutes but the Navy Goalkeeper G.I.G.Fernando tipped away the ball expertly for a corner.
All the desperate efforts from Police SC at least to find a consolation goal was safely defended.
The referee blew the final whistle to mark the end of the match as Navy came out as the deserved winners.
Full Time: Police SC 0-2 Navy SC
ThePapare.com Player of the Match: Nirmal Wijethunga
Goal Scorers
Navy SC – Dammika Rathnayaka18’, Nirmal Wijethunga 29’
Bookings
Yellow Cards – Ranish 53’(Police SC), Thushara Sampath 76’(Police SC), Lankeshwara 78’(Police SC)
