A KEEN FIGHT IS ON THE CARDS
WHEN SAUNDERS TAKE ON ARMY TOMORROW
The Vantage FA Cup Final between Saunders Sports Club and Army Sports Club will be played on December 1 (tomorrow) at the Sugathadasa Stadium commencing at 7 pm. The winners will be in line for a cash award of Rs. 700,000 and runnersup will receive Rs. 500,000 while the Golden Boot Award and the Golden Glove Award will also be presented.
The tournament is being conducted by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka with 715 teams from across the island participating in the tournament.
Both Saunders and the Army team are two very strong teams.
In Sri Lanka’s FA Cup history Saunders has won the title on 15 occasions while Army has won the trophy on five occasions.
Saunders have entered a final after 17 years while the Army team have been champions on three successive years.
Saunders, the oldest club in the island will be completing 100 years this year. The team was inaugurated in 1918 and in the history of the FA Cup history has been in the finals for 21 years.
Saunders started the first FA Cup in the island in 1948 and the first winners were Sunrise Sports Club. Saunders won the trophy in 1949 and then again in 1952, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1983/84 as well as in 1984/85, 1987/88, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1996/97, 1998/99 and 2000/2001.
The highest goal scorer in the FA Cup Tournament is former National Player, the late P.d.sirisena. He has scored 24 goals in the tournament and in the 1960 FA Cup he banged in six goals, which is a record in FA Cup History. The six goals and the 24 goals scored in the tournament still stand as a record. The six goals were booted in by P.d.sirisena against the Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills team where Saunders triumphed 7-0.
The current champions Sri Lanka Army won the FA Cup for the first time in 1960 while they were champions in 2011,2013/14, 2015/16 and 2016/17.
Saunders and Army started playing from the pre-quarter final stage. In the
Saunders is a strong team consisting of several former National players and youth players. Kasun Jayasuriya, Krishan Abeysekera, Tharusha Rangana, Sanoj Sameera and Asanka Viraj (goalie) are experienced former National players while we have a set of young blood in the team
We have been FA Cup champions for the past three years. According to the morale and talent of the players we believe that we can triumph and we accept Saunders as a great challenge
first game Saunders overcame the Ever Ready Team 6-2. In the quarter-finals they beat the Prisons team 2-1. In the quarter finals they beat Colombo FC 2-0. Colombo FC are the current champions of the Dialog Champions League (2016 and 2017) and qualified for the finals.
The Army team in the pre-quarters beat New Young’s 3-0 and in the quarters they beat SLTB 2-0. In the semi-finals they beat Police 1-0 to qualify for the final.
The Saunders team is skippered by Chanuka Eranga while the Army team is led by Sajith Kumara. The two captains with the trophy
Saunders captain Chanuka Eranga and coach Sumith Walpola said that they will be completing 100 years this year and they hope to win it to make a memorable event and to honour the late P.d.sirisena.
“Saunders is a strong team consisting of several former National players and youth players. Kasun Jayasuriya, Krishan Abeysekera, Tharusha Rangana, Sanoj Sameera and Asanka Viraj (goalie) are experienced former National players while we have a set of young blood in the team. The Army team is strong and they have reliable players. Saunders have a strong set of supporters and we are ready to give a memorable game,” the Saunders captain and coach said.
Army captain Chanuka Eranga said, “We have been FA Cup champions for the past three years. According to the morale and talent of the players we believe that we can triumph and we
accept Saunders as a great challenge.” There are two players in line for the Golden Boot Award namely Kasun Jayasuriya (Saunders) and Mohammed Ishadeen (Army) who are both former Sri Lanka players.