Ratnam SC scored three 2nd half goals as they comfortable defeated New Star SC 4-0 to win the Lawrence Fernando Memorial Trophy Gold Cup at the CR&FC Ground.
Ratnam SC could only show one goal for their dominance in the first half but scored three, including a brace from Mohamed Akhil to finish off the match and become Colombo Football League Champions.
New Star SC defeated Old Bens 4-2 in the semifinal and Ratnam scored another four against Kirulapone United, who defeated them in the FA Cup 5th round a couple of weeks back, in a 4-1 win to book a place in the final.
From the opening whistle Ratnam took the upper hand dominating play and camping inside the opposition half. They created a few opportunities but poor execution prevented them from taking the lead.
Photo Album – Ratnam SC v New Star (Gold Cup 2016)
The first shot on target came a few minutes into the match when Mohamed Aman fired a tame shot straight at the goalkeeper, going one on one, and another long range effort. However Ratnam persisted with the pressure and it finally paid off in the 32nd minute.
P.S. Madurangana’s intended cross, which was misjudged by the goalkeeper, floated dangerously but he managed to flap it away for a corner. From the resulting corner, the goalkeeper once again failed to judge and clear as Mohamed Cader headed in from close range to give Ratnam a deserved lead.
Ratnam went in search of more goals but had to settle with just the one at half time.
New Star started off the 2nd half brightly with Mohamed Anas, who got on the end of a through ball, firing a powerful shot across the face of the goal while Nizam Safan’s free-kick, from 22 yards out, needed a brilliant save from Shehan Silveira to keep the lead.
However it did not take Ratnam long to wrest back the control as they got their 2nd goal near the hour mark. A cross was punched away by the goalkeeper but as New Star tried to break away on the counter-attack the defender was disposed of and a few passes later Akhil scored.
Ratnam squandered chance after chance to add to the lead with Mohamed Safeer failing to guide an unmarked header from an Akhil cross while Cader dragged a shot wide off the target from inside the box.
Then in the 77th minute Akhil managed to find the third goal from another defensive error while two minutes later Sasika Jayasekara buried the game after New Star’s final defender failed to clear a cross as Jayasekara shot a powerful shot from an angle, past the goalkeeper and into the far corner.
