It was a splendid team effort that enabled both Colombo Football Club and Blue Eagles Sports Club to reach the grand final of the Vantage FFSL President’s Cup to be played on September 2(Wednesday) at 6.30 p.m. at Sugathadasa Stadium under lights.
Colombo FC with no less than six players’ in their ranks, representing the national team, was the pick of the sides to be the favourites of winning this tournament. Skipper Charitha Ratnayake who plays in the key centre back position, is highly regarded as a cool customer. He has held his nerve to guide them under difficult circumstances to reach this stage of the tournament, where they are just one step away from becoming the Champions of this inaugural tournament, which is being conducted by the Football Governing body FFSL, after the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic since last March.
Hassan Roomy with an uninterrupted tenure of eleven years as the coach, has strived hard to formulate this unit as a major force to reckon with, while winning several major titles for them. They won two while losing one match in the first round of this tournament. Interestingly they lost their last first round match to their rivals Blue Eagle SC going down 0-2. They kept the momentum and went on to oust the reigning F.A.Cup Champions Police Sports Club with a convincing 3-0 victory before reaching the semi -finals.
The semi-final encounter was a nerve tingling affair which went to the wire after a 2-all draw by the full time. But pendulum swung their way and they just managed to notch up a close 3-2 victory over Red Star Sports Club, who were unfortunate not to make it into the finals after putting up a belligerent performance.
Blue Eagles Sports Club on the other hand was fortunate enough to be selected at the eleventh hour, after their protest against New Star Sports Club for fielding an overaged marquee player went in favour of them and they were pushed into the semi-finals slot. Eventually, they are the only team to remain unbeaten so far in the tournament from the inception.
They were leading 2-0 until the 50th minute of the game against Java Lane SC in the semifinals. Java Lane bounced back gallantly to force a 2-all draw by the full time. But some accurate penalty kicking by Blue Star lads saw them outsmart their rivals with a close 4-3 win.
Their strength lies with the strikers who are speedy and very dangerous in loose play. They have throttled many opponent teams. Twenty teams from various parts of the country took part in this tournament which commenced on the 9th of this month played in three stages.
All teams received a cash reward after each match as a source of encouragement. by the last stage, these two finalists have got over 1.8 million rupees. This tournament will also enable the national selectors to spot the talented players for the national pool.
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