Hameed Al-Husseinie humble mighty Zahira
School football stronghold, Zahira College Colombo suffered a shocking 4-2 defeat at the hands of Hameed Al-Husseinie College in the curtain raiser game of Kotmale Chox Schools Under-19 Football Championship which kicked off on Thursday at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
The tournament, which features four international schools among other top football sides from national schools, is a competition that sees 20 elite teams vying for a single trophy. Amidst a large gathering of football lovers the anticipated cracker game kicked off with favourites Zahira taking the control to gain an early lead off Mohamed Nizan in the third minute. But their lead was restricted to a brief moment as Mohamed Aman hit back with an equalizer in the 11th minute.
The game became wide open with both teams playing attacking football and the match had every essence of a well contested game. Mohamed Ramzan, sensing the importance of gaining advantage finished off a neat pass to regain the lead in the 20th minute. Hameed Al-Husseinie waited till the right moment with tactical play and they found the vital break in the 49th minute when Mohamed Affel’s superb header helped them level the game 2-all at halftime.
After the turnaround both teams tried to penetrate the opponent’s territory but it remained a jacket until the deadlock was broken by Hameed Al-Husseinie’s midfielder Mohamed Rahuman to the delight of thousands of supporters. With their opponent’s leading the game 3-2, Zahira did not give up and played potentially but their forwards could not find the finishing touches. To the dismay of Zahira supporters Mohamed Rizan scored the fourth goal in favour of the eventual winners.
The tournament will continue with 53 more matches to be played on home and away basis before culminating on July 22 with the final. An estimated 40 league round games and further 12 second round games are on cards before the competition comes to an end with a third place playoff and the grand final.
Besides the curtain-raiser blockbuster between arch rivals in football Hameed Al-Husseinie and Zahira, the competition also features three more pairs of traditional rivals meeting each other outside their annual meetings. The Group ‘A’ consists of Saints rivals, St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s colleges in addition to Holy Cross College Kalutara, Joseph Vaz College Wennappuwa and Lyceum International Nugegoda. The Blues rivals Royal and S. Thomas’ will be the key attraction in Group ‘B’ which also features strong contenders Maris Stella College Negombo, St. Mary’s College Negombo and Royal Institute.
Group ‘C’ comprises of Zahira College Colombo, Hameed Al-Husseinie College, Hondu College Colombo, Lumbini College and British School of Colombo. The Maroons rivals Ananda and Nalanda compete from Group ‘D’ which also comprises of football strongholds De Mazenod College and St. Benedict’s College Kotahena in addition to Overseas International School.
Of the four league round games each team gets the opportunity of hosting two and playing host in the other two. The ‘home and away’ system will be in effective in the second round, where the top two teams of each group will advance to the quarter-final stage. From the semi-finals onwards the organisers are planning to bring the competition to Sugathadasa Stadium, the confirmed venue for the third place playoff and final games.