Police SC came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against ten-man Blue Star in a thrilling battle at the Police Park.
Ekene Emmanuel scored inside the first 10 minutes from a deflected shot but Blue Star had to go into halftime down to ten men with the dismissal of Mohomed Fahir. However Ekene doubled the lead for the visitors soon after the resumption but Nuwantha Charaka and Sakeef’s goal staged a rousing comeback for the Police.
Coming into the match the two sides were at the opposite ends of the table; Blue Star in 6th place fighting for a top four finish while Police were mixed in the relegation battle.
“We have grown in confidence and game play as the league progressed. I took over the side this season and mainly focused on defense at the beginning but now we have improved our game. We’ve given away a few winning positions which is unacceptable. We don’t have star players but need to win these final two matches to be sure we play in the premier division next season.” Police coach & former Sri Lanka captain Mohomed Amanullah told before the match.
“We are looking to finish in the top four, there is a good chance and I am hoping to get the win here. Going with the normal 4-3-3 formation, looking to play through the middle.” Hamsa; Blue Star coach mentioned.
Just as their coach mentioned Blue Star cut through the Police defense in the 7th minute with Ekene going into the box and was fortunate when his effort took a deflection sending the goalkeeper the wrong and creeping into the net at the near post.
The visitors almost made it 2-0 but Nasiru Opayemi’s unmarked header from a corner was cleared off the line by Damith Pathirana.
After the initial jolt Police settled down to their slick passing game and keeping possession. Though they earned a couple of free kicks the deliveries were easily cleared away by the tall Blue Star defense.
A mistake by Police goalkeeper nearly gifted Blue Star their second as he spilled an easy collection at the feet of Ekene, and Ekene rounded the keeper off, only to see the shot deflected wide off his own man.
Near the end of the first half Mohomed Fahir was shown a straight red card for abusing the referee after he showed his dissent at a foul and reduced the visitors to 10 men.
Not five minutes went by in the second half when Police goalkeeper made another mistake but this time Ekene punished with interest. Police goalkeeper punched a long range effort right into the path of the on rushing Ekene who calmly slotted the ball between the keeper’s legs.
Not to be demotivated and backed by their ever vocal coach Amanullah, Police kept the ball and patiently waited to create their opening.
They halved the lead with team goal of the season contender, when Nuwantha Charaka blasted a 20 yard screamer over the keeper. Police sprayed the ball all over the park with precision passing and Charaka with wide open space took a thumping left footed effort to beat the keeper near the hour mark.
It was all Police there on; camped inside the Blue Star half as they got the equalizer in the 69th minute through Sakeef. Sakeef came unmarked at the far post to head from a Rajitha Jayavilal corner kick. As the time came winding down, Police kept the high tempo going but were unable to find the winner.
“I came here to get the three points, but that red card changed the game. It was the lineman who abused the player first and when my player talked back he got the red card; horrible refereeing. If we got the win today, we had a chance of making the top four but now it’s gone,” an unhappy Mohomed Hamsa told ThePapare.com.
Amanullah was happy to have got a point out of this but expressed the fact that they need to put a lid on the mistakes at the back.
“We played well, passing the ball around. Even when we were 2-0 down I told the players they have the capacity to get the two goals and may be get the third as well. However need to stop the mistakes in the defense. We’ve given away winning positions in a few games because of defensive lapses.” He added.
It should be noted that the refereeing in the match was not at a satisfactory level.
