Crowd following proceedings at the Ramadhan Cup in the New Eastleigh Primary School
Villa Roma are through to the semifinals of the Ramadhan Cup mini-tournament following a 4-2 victory over Climbing Stars on penalties after a 2-2 draw in tournament regulation time of 60 minutes.
The spellbinding encounter played at the New Eastleigh Primary School saw Climbing Stars take the lead on 6 minutes. After being thwarted by two good saves by the Climbing Stars' goalkeeper, Villa Roma got their equaliser on 11 minutes.
The equaliser buoyed Villa Roma whose flamboyant pursuit for a second goal was matched with brutal efficiency from Climbing Stars who regained the lead on 16 minutes with their second attack of the game.
Climbing Stars' goal only strengthened the resolve of their opponents who continued to torment them with intricate passing moves. To their relief, Climbing Stars managed to go into the break leading 2-1 owing to the brilliance of their goalkeeper and the profligacy of their opponents.
The second half was a replica of the first half with the match hypnotising fans to silent gazes and jubilant claps to appreciate mesmerising sequences of play.
Play was temporarily stopped midway through the second half with Villa Roma protesting about Climbing Stars having an excess of non-fasting players. Tournament regulations limit each team to two non-fasting players at any given time.
The matter was resumed amicably and play resumed with Villa Roma maintaining their relentless search for an equaliser as Climbing Stars battling hard to cling to their advantage.
Villa Roma finally found a way through in the last minute of the game but it was not without controversy as Climbing Stars argued that Villa Roma put the ball in the net off a pass from a fan after the ball had gone out of play.
However, the referee, who had full view of the action, insisted on his perception of the incident and allowed the goal to stand. The referee blew the whistle briefly after the restart.
In the penalty shootout, Villa Roma had the post and their goalkeeper to thank as they overcame their opponents 4-2 to set up a semifinal clash with Burhan on Saturday. The match, which will be the second semifinal, will be played at the New Eastleigh Primary School from 5 pm.
The first semifinal will be played on Friday at the same venue from 5 pm and it will feature Sharp and Xidigaha.
Speaking to The Eastleigh Voice after the match, Villa Roma captain Abdulmalik Hussein saluted his teammates for not giving up.
"On behalf of my team, I thank Allah for this victory. We did not give up even after we went behind twice and we fancy our chances in the semifinals against Burhan on Saturday," Hussein said.
"In the first half we conceded some cheap and I am glad that in the second half we corrected our mistakes and kept a cleansheet. Also, I am happy our gamble in the second half to add more attack-minded players paid off," Hussein added.
