Wesley stun much fancied Zahira
Wesley College stunned hosts Zahira College 3-2 on penalties to snatch the 12th Zahira Super 16 Soccer Sevens Championship at Maradana yesterday. The Cup final was an intensely battled affair where the hosts were neatly thwarted by the gritty Wesley side to finish off scoreless and hold on to the tight defence even during the extra time. Wesley was always in the fore, even during the penalty shootout despite the heavy ground support for the Zahira side. The game changer was Wesley’s goalkeeper Mohamed Nifraz, who saved three of Zahira’s shots and went on to win the award for the best goalkeeper.
Mohamed Shaheel of Zahira was adjudged the player of the final while his team mate Mohamed Shafraz earned the most valuable player award.
In the semi-finals Wesley beat Trinity 3-1 and Zahira defeated Hindu College Manipay 2-0 to reach the final. In the third place playoff Hindu College Manipay beat Trinity by 2-0. After a scoreless draw St. Benedict’s went on to run down St. Peter’s by 3-1 on penalties to win the Bowl championship while the Plate title was won by Royal Colombo who beat St. Joseph’s by 2-1 on penalties. The game ended 0-0 at full-time. In the only final that had a straight result defending tournament title holders Maris Stella beat Isipathana by 1-0 to win the Shield championship.
Trinity won the fair play team award. The tournament was a perfectly conducted one and was a better event when compared to competitions organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Football Association. The tournament had 16 teams in total. Besides the ten teams that reached the top, Al Adhan Badulla, St. Mary’s Kegalle, Nalanda, Hindu Colombo, De Mazenod Kandana and Zahira Gampola had to bow out after the first round. The organisers of the tournament, the Past Prefects Association of Zahira College, had made arrangements to fix a title sponsor for each of the 16 teams.
The victorious Wesley side - Pix by Amila Gamage