Johar strikes as Expolanka lift title
In a lackluster final, Expolanka SC led by Sri Lanka national squad member M. Zarwan Johar romped to an easy 4/0 win over Hatton National Bank (HNB) in the Mercantile Football Association ‘A’ Division Knockout Tournament 2019,concluded last week at the City League Grounds, Slave Island, Colombo 2.
In the first half, HNB did nothing but defend making the Expolanka Goalkeeper a mere bystander. A.R.M. Shazny managed to penetrate the tight HNB defense to draw first blood in the 15th minute for Expolanka to lead 1/0 at the breather.
Things remained the same in the 2nd half with HNB striving for survival, Expolanka skipper, M. Zarwan Johar, who spearheaded the attack, relentlessly raided the HNB box and through his unselfish, robust play combined with slick passing, his team mates, M.S. Jain, H.N. Kanishka and M.A.M. Farzan found the net on three occasions to be crowned the champs.
In the ‘B’ Division final that preceded, Commercial Credit and Finance turned tables on the fancied, Amana Bank with a hard fought 2/1 win.Nimesh Cooray put the bankers in front with a stinging kick from inside the box in the 20th minute, Amana led 1-0 at half time.
Early in the second half, Commercial Credit equalized through a penalty kick netted by K.A. Buddhika. Amana then went on a full scale attack in order to get in front and they could have easily won, but not for the brilliance of Commercial Credit, G.K. Indika Kamal, who saved at least three certain goals. The winning goal came in the dying stages of the game via P.S.L. Sanjeeva.
M.A. Abdeen controlled the game. The match commissioner appointed by MFA for both finals was Anton Atapattu. Old Ben, former national player and current Chairman of the National Selection Committee FFSL, Tissa Kodituwakku graced the occasion as chief guest along with the Guest of Honour former National Player, Captain and Coach, Asoka Ravindra and the MFA Officials joined in to give away the awards.