All-Island Inter-School Invitation Football By David Stephens Facing a two- goal deficit with only a few minutes left, Hameed Al Husseinie College pulled off a stunning 3-2 victory over Thurstan College and stayed alive in the All-Island Inter-School Invitation Football tournament at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. The tournament’s 2011 finalists and hosts were staring down [...]

The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Hameed Al Husseinie stuns Thurstan with 3-2 victory

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All-Island Inter-School Invitation Football

By David Stephens

Facing a two- goal deficit with only a few minutes left, Hameed Al Husseinie College pulled off a stunning 3-2 victory over Thurstan College and stayed alive in the All-Island Inter-School Invitation Football tournament at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.

Both Hameed Al Husseinie and Thurstan played hard and produced thrilling football. - Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte.

The tournament’s 2011 finalists and hosts were staring down the barrel after a lackluster first half, which saw Thurstan score through Mohamed Nafiz and Vishva Sankalpa. However, they managed to finally discover the flamboyant football they are famous for with two sublime strikes from M. Rahman and a penalty from M. Azard.

Hameed Al Husseinie started the game well and was buoyed by a large group of supporters. Early on in the game they seemed camped in their opponents’ half yet were unable to make a breakthrough, chiefly due to their very ordinary finishing.

Thurstan made them pay dearly for this profligacy at the 11 minute mark, when Nafiz launched a scorcher of a free kick. Taking aim just a few meters from the halfway line, Nafiz let fly with a long-range missile that rocketed into Hameed Al Husseinie’s top corner.

That goal thrust the pendulum away from Hameed Al Husseinie and they were unable to discover the attacking football they usually employ with devastating effect. Their confusion eventually materialized in their defense, where they left gaping holes. Sankapala capitalized on this lapse in judgment and wrapped up a spellbinding sequence, awash with crisp and quick passes, by whacking the ball in to give Thurstan a two-nil lead.

Besides leaving Hammed Al Husseinie’s fans dumbfounded, the score line also awoke the school’s players from their prolonged slumber. Immediately Hameed Al Husseinie started maintaining possession for extended periods of play and worked their way into threatening positions.

A perfectly weighted pass into the box that drifted towards the head of Rahman, was emphatically nodded in past a helpless goalie to resurrect what had been a downcast crowd comprising almost entirely of Hameed Al Husseinie fans.

The next goal, a fabulous strike from Rahman, had them vociferously running down the aisles; the momentum was now with their team. With the final whistle and the arrival of extra time there came an inescapable sense that Hameed Al Husseinie was homing in on another goal. Sure enough. After just a few minutes of play, a rash challenge put Azard on the penalty spot. He made no mistake in depositing the ball at the back of the net and sealed victory for his team which for long spells of the match seemed impossible.




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