Moragasmulla SC bagged the semi-final of the Division I Premier League after a well-deserved 2-0 win over Red Star SC at the Moragasmulla grounds.
A calm and collected home team put 2 goals to their name to win this one, without letting a goal get past against them. Their morale was already lifted with their win in the 1st leg which also ended in 2-0 at Kalutara; home ground of Red Star.
For a spectator of today’s match, the win for the Moragasmulla team might have come as a surprise as the players from Red Star made sure they had full control of the ball at the start of the match. Although, their attacks came off as both legal and illegal with many fouls early on in the game, their fierceness gave them an early opportunity to score when Roshan Fernando had a fantastic chance for a clean goal but was unable to convert it.
The attackers of the visiting team gave very little chance for the Moragasmulla boys to snatch the ball away from them at the beginning of the match which led to the use of strong defense tactics by the home team coach. A clearance from the strong line of defenders of the Moragasmulla team created a sudden goal opportunity for P. Sakulada around the 10th minute of the match, when he found himself with the ball with only the goalkeeper to beat for an easy goal. Sakulada was caught unprepared by this long pass to him and failed miserably at the conversion which left the scores still at 0-0. The Red Star team took this scare to up their game but they were still not able to get past the defense of the home team.
Half way through the first half, things went horribly wrong for the guests when a play they thought was in their favor, turned against them with a smart counter attack by Moragasmulla. The home team was able to score the first goal of the match off a sequence of pass play which initially started at the other end of the ground, with I. Priyankara wisely booting one beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mohomed Sifras In the 26th minute. Within seconds, Moragasmulla hardly having any possession of the ball turned into them having full control of the first half, changing the atmosphere and momentum of this game completely.
Moragasmulla may have gotten a little too far ahead from this adrenaline boost because most of their tries from this point onwards were invalid due to off-side calls. The guests were far from giving up; proven by the former junior national player Cassim Rahman who almost scored a brilliant goal from a free kick but the Moragasmulla goalkeeper M. Rukshan performed extremely well to punch it over the goal. With that, the first half ended with 1 goal for the home team and a lot of work to do for the guests.
The home team stepped onto the field with their heads held high with confidence; completely contrasting their attitude at the start of the first half. They immediately took charge of the ball building pressure on the team from Kalutara who found themselves struggling to gain possession. 12 minutes into the second half and the guests were encouraged to lose hope on heading into the finals, when H.R.Priyawansa scored the second goal of the match with a powerful kick. Sifras had no chance of stopping this blow as one of his own defenders had positioned himself at the wrong place, completely blinding the goalkeeper’s sight of the ball. With 2 goals down, Red Star SC saw themselves in all sorts of trouble when they were kept busy by the home team with effective strategic plays.
No real threats were posed by either of the teams for the rest of the match except for when Mohomed Farook of the Red Star SC won them a free kick, dangerously close to the box. Moragasmulla took all measures to see that their 2-0 lead was still intact by the end of the game and set up a 6 man defense line, which bravely sealed the deal.
“I’m extremely happy with the win today, the boys played very well and carried out what they were told. And we will be continuing our tough training in order to win this year as well” said the proud and determined coach of the Moragasmulla team after the match.
