Football: Champs LB Finance in 4-1 rout John Keells to win MFA Futsal title

2016-runners up, LB Finance led by M.M.N Hakeem played exhilarating street Football, to trounce John Keells Group (JKG), 4-1 in the final of the 'Cup' Championship of the 2nd edition of the Mercantile Football Association (MFA) 5-a-Side Futsal Championships 2017, concluded at the Futsal World indoor court, TB Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10, last weekend. 

Sixteen teams in 4 Groups participated in 4 Stages. 

At the completion of 24 round-robin matches, the Group leaders and runners-up advanced to the next round. 

The Top 8: Expolanka Holdings (Expolanka), Amana Bank (Amana) (Group 'A'), Ceylinco Insurance General (Ceylinco), Eskimo Fashions (Eskimo) (Group 'B'), JKG, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) (Group 'C'), LBFinance (LBF), WNS Global (WNS) (Group 'D') . 

Final Round Results: 

Cup Quarterfinals: Expolanka beat Eskimo, 5-2; JKG beat WNS, 3-0; Amana beat Ceylinco, 4-1; LBF beat SCB, 4-0. 

Bowl Semifinal: WNS beat Eskimo, 2-0; Ceylinco beat SCB, 1-0. 

Cup Semifinals: JKG beat Expolanka on penalties, 7-6 (Scores 3-3 at full time ); LBF beat Amana, 1-0. 

Plate Playoff for 7th and 8th places: SCB beat Eskimo, 6-2 

Plate Playoff for 5th and 6th places: WNS beat Ceylinco, 5-0. 

Cup Playoff for 3rd and 4th places: Expolanka beat Amana, 5-0 

Cup Final: LBF beat JKG, 4-1, after leading 2-0 at halftime; M.C.M. Rizni and M.M.N Hakeem scored 2 goals each for LBF.

Dhananjaya Udara scored the solitary goal for JKG. 

Special Awards 

Best Goal Keepers: Lakman Ajendren (WNS Global) and H.M. Usman (LB Finance). 

Most Outstanding Players: Udara Habakkale (WNS Globa) and MCM Rizni (LB Finance). 

Fair Play award: Standard Chartered Bank, who finished with a clean sheet- No fouls, No yellow or red cards.