Northern Province comfortably defeated Southern Province 3-1 in the final of the Ceylon Provincial League 2022, played for the Independence Trophy at the Durayappah Stadium, Jaffna.
Northern booked their place in the final beating Eastern Province 1-0 in the semi-final on aggregate while Southern had the tough route having to come from a goal down in the 1st leg to draw 2-2 on aggregate and win 4-1 on penalties.
Both sides struggled in the early going to get a foothold in the match. The match was littered with fouls but neither team was able to take advantage of the resulting free-kicks.
However, Northern scored in the 23rd minute after the defense failed to clear a Jude Suman free-kick. The ball fell to Thevarasa Clinton who set-up Vijayakumar Vignesh to score past Rasik Rishad.
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After missing out on a good chance to score, Kannan Thenusan doubled the lead on the stroke of half time. Vincent Geethan found Thenusan with a wondefully weighted defense splitting pass and Thenusan waited until Risad committed to score past the goalkeeper.
After the break Southern played well but near the hour mark a swift counter attack saw Northern adding the third goal. Geethan found Thenusan on the right and after brushing off a defender, he cut the ball back to Mariyathas Nitharshan. Nitharshan’s initial effort was blocked but he made certain the rebound found the back of the net.
In the 85th minute Southern did score, what turned out to be a consolation goal. Goalkeeper Jugadeswaran Amalraj’s error allowed Keshan Dumidu to capitalise.
Special Awards
- Fair Play Award – Eastern Province
- Emerging Player of the Tournament – Mohamed Munsif (Eastern Province)
- Golden Glove – Mohamed Murshid (Eastern Province)
- Golden Boot – Mariyathas Nitharshan (Northern Province)
- Golden Ball – Mariyathas Nitharshan (Northern Province)
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