Sri Lankan Contingent

Sri Lanka entered the final of the 10th South Asian Games soccer championship beating India in a thrilling encounter yesterday at the Sugathadasa Stadium six goals to five in a penalty shoot out.

This win also assured a medal for Sri Lanka's under-23 soccerites who came out with an excellent performance.

The match which got off to a start at 3.00 p.m. saw both sides playing safe, specially the Lankans were seen wasting time by moving the ball in their territory among the defenders.

At which time, the Indians were on the attack to get on to a lead which was the mostly needed in a game of this nature to get to the final on Saturday.

This practice by the Lankans went on for nearly 20 minutes which roused the spectators very much as they expected a better performance from the start. This they expected as the Lankan lads did well in the previous games of the tourney.

The eight minute and the 12th minute saw the host team missed two easy scoring opportunities. If these chances were put to good use the game would not have gone to extra time and penalty shoot outs. The first-half ended with spectators not happy with the soccer displayed by both teams. The players too were seen moving out of the arena disappointed.

After the turn around the players were looking to penetrate each others territory on many occasions, but were not on target to put their teams into a lead. Indians played their hearts out to get the better of their opponents launching attacks onto the Lankans area, but all were not successfully executed by the strikers.

For Lankans, the midfielders played their part well, but the luck was not with them. Whenever they sent in good moves the front runners could not give the finishing touches to produce goals.

The Indians on the other hand were seen moving very fast to collect the necessary passes. Here too they could not find the correct target to score. The last fifteen minutes of the second session Indians played fast soccer with the intention of going ahead of their hosts Sri Lanka.

The few shots that were taken by the Indian strikers were brilliantly saved by local custodian and the skipper of the side, Sandun Devinda. His performance in this game too came for high praise from all quarters.

The full ninety minutes of play failed to produce a result when the scoreboard showed nil all, and the referee from Malaysia C. Ravichandran had to take the game to extra time.

The first part of the extra time, the play took a different turn when most of the visiting players were seen moving for man than the ball and referee had a difficult time in controlling the situation. Thirteenth minute of this part saw Indian's substitute in the second-half Lalramjusha put his side into the lead scoring with the free kick given just outside the danger area on the right side. His kick moved swiftly into the far corner of the goal. India - 1, Sri Lanka - 0.

Second part of the extra time period got their act together and went on an all out attack to find the equaliser. Their hard work could not produce any results.

Eleven minutes in this session an Indian was found guilty for an unlawful conduct and referee offered the penalty to the Lankans. S.A.D.L.N. Perera made no mistake with the kick to find the equaliser. The match ended as a one all draw.

Penalty shootout was introduced at this stage. Five penalties failed to find the winner as both teams scored three each. The six attempts ended with both teams finding net and equal.

Sri Lankan goalie saved the seventh penalty taken by the Indians, but E.B. Nuwantha Charaka put things in favour of Sri Lanka scoring the winning goal for his side which also sealed a medal for Lanka.

Sri Lanka custodian Sandun Devinda deserved full accolades for his outstanding performance between the posts saving four penalties during this semi-final match. His brilliant actions today kept the spectators spellbound throughout the game.

The refereeing was not upto high standards compared to other games. There were many mistakes highlighted during the game which gave the game a very bad reputation to its status.

This is also a very serious situation for others who are to blow in the future. The refereeing need more attention than anything else.

Sri Lanka paly the winners of Nepal-Pakistan match, the second semi-final of the championship. The final is scheduled for Saturday.