The Northern Province team has been crowned champions of the Independence Cup Football Tournament.
The final of the Inter-Provincial Independence Cup Football Tournament organized by the Sri Lanka Football Federation was held at the Durayappa Stadium in Jaffna yesterday (05) afternoon.
In the final, the Northern Province team defeated the Southern Province team by a margin of 03 – 01.
At the end of the previous league round, the Northern Province team finished second in the standings with 13 points in 7 matches with 3 wins and 4 draws.
The Northern Province team, which subsequently defeated the Eastern Province team in the semi-finals, was the first team to have qualified for the final of the Independence Cup.
Similarly, the Southern Province team with 11 points from 7 matches with 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats advanced to the semi-finals as the fourth team.
The Southern Province team that defeated the Sabaragamuwa team in the semi-finals and was the second team in the final of the Independence Cup series.
Compared to the two teams in question, the Northern Province team, which has not lost in previous matches, had a better performance than the Southern Province team.
The Northern Province team was led by Mariyadas Nitharsan and the Southern Province team was led by MR Rishad.
The Northern Province team took the lead in the first half of the match ending at 2-0.
In the second half that followed, the Northern Province team won the first Independence Cup football series by a score of 03 – 01 at the end of the match, with both teams infiltrating each other.
V. Vignes, K. Thenujan and M. Nitharsan each scored a goal for the Northern Province team while D. Dumundu scored a goal for the Southern Province team.
Northern Province captain Mariyadas Nitharsan won the Golden Shoe award for the player who scored the most goals in the series.
The Golden Glove Award was presented to MM Murshid of the Eastern Province team and the Emerging Player Award was presented to Mohammad Munseef of the Eastern Province team.
Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa attended the final and presented the trophy.
It is noteworthy that the Deputy Chairman of Committees of Parliament Angajan Ramanathan, Jaffna District Secretary K Mahesan, President and representatives of the Sri Lanka Football Federation and many others were present at today’s event.
