In a closely fought final, Gateway College beat Lyceum International School Nugegoda to win the Inter International School Under-19 Football Championship.
Having been down two goals to nil in the first half, Gateway came back strongly to record a pulsating 3-2 win.
Gateway’s determined fight back was spearheaded by Mario Fernando, Marc Atton and Nansika Kaggodaarachchi who scored a goal each.
Captained by Rasheef Rashad and coached by James Heath, the young side whose majority of players are still Under 17 and Under 15, performed remarkably well during the tournament.
During the run up, Gateway beat Lyceum Panadura 3-1 and Colombo International School Kandy 4-0.
In the quarter final they beat Royal Institute 2-1. The semi final too was a close encounter but Gateway won on a 4-1 penalty shootout after the scores were level at 1-1 at full time.
Lyceum Nugegoda overcame Lyceum Wattala in the other semi final to reach the final.
Gateway’s centre forward Marc Atton was named the ‘Player of the tournament’ for his outstanding performance scoring seven goals during the tournament.
Shanil Dutta who played a key role during the tournament was awarded the ‘Best goal keeper of the tournament’ award.
