Renown clinch 1-0 win against Blue Eagles

Renown secured a hard-earned 1-0 win over Blue Eagles in their inter club soccer match played for the ‘Super League’ championship at the Race Course Stadium, yesterday.

Renown skipper Dilip Suraj Pieris successfully sneaked through the rival defence in the 74th minute to score the match winning goal.

The match turned out to be a dull affair from the start whistle, as the performance of both sides was well below expectations. They played in patches and executed no proper plan.

Renown, one of the leading teams in the football arena, missed out on more than a dozen chances, some of them sitters. They surged ahead several times, beating the rival defence, but failed to put the all-important finishing touches. At lemons, it was a barren scorecard as neither side was able to make an impact on the score line.

After the turnaround, much was anticipated from both teams, but once again, it ended with the same result, with both teams failing to capitalize on the available chances.

Subsequently, in the 73rd minute, a Blue Eagles goal was disallowed as one of their players was flagged offside by the linesman; and on-field referee P. Kumara awarded a free kick to Renown. In the next minute, substitute player Jude Suban made a well-directed cross pass from the right flank to his skipper Dilip Suraj, who put the finishing touches. Meanwhile, the second match between Up Country Lions and Blue Star was called off due heavy rain and soggy ground condition.