Sports | Friday 9 June, 2017 4:09 am |

Al Watania and Royal teams have advanced to the semi-finals of the Sharjah Ramadan Football Championship (SRFC) following their respective 8-1 and 2-0 victories on Wednesday evening.  The ninth day of the tournament witnessed an impressive turnout of spectators keen to support their teams and urge them on to the final stages of the competition, which has been organised by Sharjah Sports Channel and runs until June 12.

The first of the two matches taking place at Sharjah Sports Club saw Al Watania, which had taken the lead in the competition’s Group one, faced their strong rivals Al Alami, the Group Two runners-up. The match got off to a thunderous start when Al Watania’s Brazilian player Katella Camacho scored the fastest goal of the tournament in the first few seconds of the game, heading the ball spectacularly past Al Alami’s goalkeeper Yousef Sultan.

Al Watania continued to stamp their authority on the game, putting more pressure on their opponents. Their efforts were soon rewarded when Camacho netted his second, followed by his team mate Omar Abdullah Al Saleh who drove the ball home in the ninth minute to take his team’s tally to three. Continuing his superb form, Katella Camacho gained his hat trick in the 14th minute when he scored the fourth goal for his team. His personal fourth and his team’s fifth came in the 17th minute, ensuring that Al Watania went into the half-time break with a 5-0 lead.

Al Alami intensified their attacks in the second half, but it was Al Watania’s Mohammed Karmastaji who netted the sixth goal for his team in the third minute. He was followed by his teammate Ahmed Abdullah Al Saleh who took Al Watania’s tally to seven. All attempts by Al Alami to fight back were thwarted by Al Watania’s goalkeeper, Yousef Sultan Yousef, who skillfully defended his team’s net.

Despite it looking to be an overwhelming victory for Al Watania, Al Alami player Yousef Hassan Abdullah ensured that their opponents wouldn’t keep a clean sheet in the game by scoring his team’s only goal in the 16th minute. Abdullah Karmastaji then scored the eighth goal for Al Watania, with the match ending with a stunning 8-1 triumph for Al Watania. The victory moved the winners forward to the semifinals and ended the dreams of Al Alami, who were knocked out of the competition.

The second game of Wednesday’s two games brought out Sport 4 All, which had taken the lead in Group Two, to play against the previous edition’s champions Royal, the runners up of this year’s Group One. Despite both sets of players skillfully manoeuvring the ball and creating chances, neither team could find their way through their opponents and score. The end of the first half saw the teams head for the break on a 0-0 draw.

The second half of the match saw audience participation reach new heights, with fans of both teams jumping off their seats to cheer on their teams and encourage their players forward. After nine minutes of stalemate, Royal’s Brazilian Player Alex Diaz scored the first goal for his team, with his effort seemingly inspiring his team, as it was swiftly followed one minute later by his teammate Ahmed Yousef who netted the second. Sport 4 All responded with vigor to attempt to break Royal’s defence and claw their way back into the game, but goalkeeper Mohammed Hussein successfully martialled the defence to fend off their attacks.

Royal continued to control the game in a masterful fashion, tightening their grip on Sport 4 All. The pressure saw Royal player Mohammed Al Mulla score the team’s third goal in the 14th minute. The two teams continued their tit-for-tat attacks, but the score-line remained the same and the match ended with a 3-0 win for Royal.

Royal now enter the semi-finals aiming to defend their title as champions of last year’s SRFC, which was the first edition of the annual tournament. They join Al Watania in the semi-finals, which will be played tomorrow, (Saturday) June 10.  

The ninth day of SRFC hosted a line-up of the most prominent Emirati football personalities from the UAE’s Al Wahda Football Club, including Al Wahda football star strikers Mohammed Barghash, Sultan Al Ghafri and goal keeper Ali Al Hosni