Easy passage for Blue Star
Blue Star faced little trouble while Navy experienced a tough battle before winning their respective quarter-final clashes of the Cargills Food City FA Cup football championship at two different parts of Sri Lanka yesterday.
Blue Star beat Don Bosco by 3-0 at the Matara Football Complex while Navy brought down a gritty Ratnam outfit 2-0 to advance to the semi-final stage of the competition.
Blue Star played an attacking brand of football, supported by their African strikers, as they opened scoring in the 10th minute through
Action between Blue Star and Don Bosco at Matara
striker Arbisun Daniel to take an early lead. Don Bosco defense was made to sweat and toil by the Blue Star strikers who went through their defense line to score the second goal in the 22nd minute through Mohamed Fahir. Blue Star led the halftime by 2-0 and went on to hold the grip even after the turnaround. Several opportunities that came Don Bosco’s way were easily thwarted by Blue Star who scored their third goal through Daniel in the 77th minute and seal the game.
Navy travelled to Anuradhapura to meet top guns Ratnams at the Prisons ground where thousands of spectators came to witness the crucial battle. The Sailors made the initial breakthrough when L.G. Lalith struck in the 19th minute and gave Ratnams and its supporters an unexpected shock. But Ratnams known for their customary attack could not make a single breakthrough against a strong Navy defence wall. Sailors struck a double shocker when they penetrated the Ratnams defence to score moments before halftime through A.C. Sameera to enjoy a 2-0 lead. After the resumption Ratnams made a remarkable recovery which was insufficient in front of the gallant Sailors, who made their way to the FA Cup semis.
Yesterday’s winners are slotted to meet the winners of today’s two quarterfinals of giant killers SLTB, who beat DCL champions Air Force, to meet Army at the Seevali ground in Ratnapura and Colombo FC who will face Matara City at Nawalapitiya. The winners will advance to the semi-finals which will be played at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo next Saturday. – NA