Old Bens-Don Bosco final could be a thriller

Bernard PERERA

Don Bosco Sports Club from Negombo for the first time made their way to a final in a high level competition when they defeated Golden Star Sports Club in the second semi-final of the Dialog Premier League soccer championship yesterday at the Kelaniya Football Ground for three goals to two.

The winners Don Bosco was in the lead at the halfway mark one goal to nil.

Their entry into the final of this segment also paved the way for them to rise to the Segment A for the next season along with the other finalist Old Bens Sports Club from Kotahena.

The match was easily contested in the first 45 minutes of play though the winners took a slender lead before the lemons. However the losers with a strong fight back came closer to the winners by equalising 1-1. But the strong outfit from Negombo made sure of a birth in the final with two more goals added to their tally.

The first goal for Negombo Club came through the boot of Duleep Peiris while the other two was scored by Dulip Dalpadatho and Rohan Kumara.

The Golden Star SC’s goal scorers were L.H. Sarath and N. Mohanraj, both these goals being scored in the second part of the game.

The game which saw good soccer being played by both teams also maintained a high standard of discipline, which helped the referee Priyanga Pieris in controlling the game well. He had to pull out the yellow card only twice (one each to a team).

The Don Bosco will face the strong outfit from Kotahena on Monday at CR&FC ground. This final is a game no one can predict as to which way the game could turn. But according to form Old Bens have a slight advantage when going back to the form this season. Old Bens have won seven games draw 1 and lost two to have a tally of 22 points and were a equal terms with the other semi finalist Golden Star SC.

Don Bosco in the meantime had 19 points against their name collected from five wins and four draws. For the Negombo team strikers have found the net on 15 occasions while Old Bens’ strikers have a better haul of goals (19).

Both teams have given away only eight throughout the season.

When on the records this season both teams are equally balanced and the team that play quality soccer added with discipline could come out as worthy winners.