Old Thomians Football Club’s second half burst earned them a 4-0 win over St.Michael’s SC at the Railway Grounds at Rathmalana.
This was the Old Thomians FC’s debut appearance in the FA Cup and they got over a nervy start to carve through their opponents. Old Thomians went into half time with a 1-0 lead through Ashwin Dias. Then in a 8 minute burst early in the second half they took the game by the neck scoring three goals with Ashwin bagging his brace while Pathum Godagamage and Nusry Hussain netting a goal each.
It was a tough start for the debutants against St.Michael’s but Ashwin eased the nerves with an 18th minute strike. Ashwin rounded off the goalkeeper with a heavy touch but managed to score from an acute angle.
The back four for the Old Thomians were under constant threat till the end of the first half but held of the attacks to go into halftime with a one goal advantage.
Pathum doubled the lead inside three minutes in the second half heading it past the wrong footed keeper after putting the ball over the St.Michael’s defense. In the 53rd minute Ashwin netted his second getting on the end of a superb ball by Vishagan Somalingakumar. Two minutes later Ashwin turned provider when he danced his way down the left and set up Nusry for the Old Thomians fourth.
“It was a little tough to start with. It was our FA cup debut and we are a small club developed through the years playing friendly games and our main goal is to improve game by game both technically as well as mentally to reach many more milestones. The boys played with a lot of heart and we made a few tactical moves in terms of ensuring we keep a clean sheet.” The jubilant Old Thomians Captain Shavinda Kolonne told ThePapare.com
