The OSC girls football team got the amazing opportunity to be the opening game for the Gateway Vs. ST Thomases college match at the Racecourse Ground. This was such an amazing opportunity for us to participate in as we were declared the best girls football team in Colombo.
Prior to the game, we were featured in a newspaper article where Disara went in for an interview to expose the details of our football team and what we thought about the game.
A week before the tournament we played 2 practice matches one was against Moir and the other was against CIS. The first game that we played against Moir we didn’t end up winning which was a mood kill and didn’t bring us up to where we needed to be mentally. The Defence was all over the place and the attack wasn’t getting past the opposition. This ended with a 3-0 loss for OSC. What we learnt during the game was the aspect of working together and communication. Picking up your teammate when they make a mistake and perseverance. After the first goal that was scored during that game against us, we could see all the disappointment in everyone’s faces and we immediately stopped trying and that’s how we conceded the rest of the goals.
In a deep zone of concentration watching the ball. Photo: Alex
We attempted to implicate and better the mistakes that we made in the last game. We improved a large amount. We won the game 8-0 this really brought our confidence back up for the game on Saturday. The difference between this and the Moire game was that we all had our head in the game and we were mentally preparing for what was to come. There was a large amount of perseverance in this game which brought us the win.
Punting the ball to the halfway line. Photo: Alex
On Saturday morning we had an hour and a half of training. We didn’t do an incredibly hard session just practised things such as kicks and we did a lot of corners.
We had to be at the stadium at 3:15pm in our track pants and our OSC polo shirts. Our game started at 4:00pm, we started off by checking in and then getting into our kit. We warmed up on the little field and watched the game that was happening on the pitch next to us. We were incredibly nervous and you could tell by the silence and concentration.
FWEEEEEET!!
The whistle blew and we were off, staring of messy but then gaining control after everyone was familiar with the feeling of the ball and the field. I hardly had to touch the ball!!! my defence was amazing and I only had to make a couple rolling saves. At the end of the first quarter, we were 0-0 but our side had dominated the field, constantly taking shots at the goal but straight to the keeper.
As the second half began we were still taking shots but falling short. The daunting idea that we would have to do penalties dawned upon me. The whistle went off again to signal the end of the game, as the camera zoomed in on me and I saw myself on the big screen I knew what was happening next.
An action shot of me catching the ball. Photo: Alex
The oppositions goalie and I made our way to the centre. The ref asked me to take a shot, I immediately thought it was a practice. As I placed the ball on the penalty spot, not looking at where I wanted to shoot it, I passed the ball into the top right corner. I soon found out that it was counted as one of our team’s kicks. Both teams continued making shots, the keepers touching the ball but never enough to stop it. Until a wrong kick done by the opposition allowed the ball to land straight in my hands. Next thing I knew I was being bombarded with hugs from my team and mt friends that came to watch.
Ritisha with the golden boot and my goalkeeper award. Photo: Gabby
During the assembly, I was awarded the best goalkeeper of the match award. It was a huge honour to be a part of this competition and the experiences that I gained from it were unimaginable. I learnt to be a good sportsman and how the support of my team was vital for us to win the game. This was a great experience to understand each of our strengths and weaknesses before the tournament.
The team after the game. Photo: Alex.