Peterites’ second half surge evens honours against Maris Stella

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St.Peter’s College stunned Maris Stella College after coming from 2-0 down at half time to draw 2-2 and share the spoils of the 2016 Kotmale Chox U19 Schools Football Championship opener at the Race Course International Stadium.

Both teams struggled to make much of the early exchanges as the sluggish field resulting after a brief spell of shower troubled both set of players.

Yet as the game progressed Maris Stella took control of the proceedings creating the first few openings of the half.

They were duely rewarded in the 21st minute when a Chathura Buwaneka corner was partially cleared, only to be volleyed to the back of the net by Thathsara Fernando from the edge of the box.

After their smell of blood Maris Stella went into the kill, to gain more leverage over their opponents, however failed to convert their chances.

The first half came to a close with a breakaway goal by the lads from Negombo, when Chathura Buwaneka turned provider yet again as he squared a peach of a ball for Nisal Tharinda to slot the ball home to double their advantage at the stroke of half time.

With a few tactical changes and a stern talk from coach Isuru Perera, St.Peter’s started the better out of the two sides in the second half.

With a key playmaker in Ishan Perera shifted from defense to midfield and Mohamed Shabeer shifted from out wide to a striker the Peterites’ made their intentions clear.

Whilst taking the control of midfield the Peterites’ were able to trouble the Maris Stella defence on numerous occasion only to be denied by the lack of edge in finishing.

However, on the stroke of the 46th minute a calamitous error by the Maris Stella Keeper put in Shabeer as he was clinical in pouncing on to the opportunity and bringing his team back into the game.

With a spring on their step Peterites seeked an equalizer with the light fading away. It took them only another nine minutes to draw levels as skipper Johan Wickremasinghe put through Shabeer with a scrumptious cross from the left side of field. Shabeer obliged to the cross, as he smashed the ball home to draw level on the 55th minute.

Photo Album – St.Peter’s College v Maris Stella College – Schools Football 2016

With the outfield getting sluggish by the moment the task of finding a winner became harder for either team.

Yet during the latter bits of the half Maris Stella gained momentum but were not able find a winner due to their inability to finish and some excellent last ditch defending.

The final whistle was blown with after a series of corners resulting in nothing for Maris Stella bringing to an end a well deserved point for both teams to kick things off in the tournament.

Sharing a few words with ThePapare.com after the match both coaches were disappointed in dropping two points yet were satisfied with both their team’s performances, especially with the St.Peter’s coach claiming that a lack of training has not curtailed his team from playing free flowing foodball.

ThePapare.com Player of the Match: Mohamed Shabeer Razooniya