Muscat: Mohsin al Ghassani and Amjad al Harthi goals powered Seeb to clinch the fourth title of the His Majesty’s Cup football championship after edging Al Rustaq 2-0 in the summit clash on Thursday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
With the victory, the Muscat based team managed to return to the triumphs after an absence of 24 years. Post the match, Sultan bin Salim al Habsi, Minister of Finance, chief guest of the match gave away the silver medals to Rustaq’s players while gold medals went to the Seeb players while the captain of the team received the prestigious Cup.
His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth attended the match besides top dignitaries and officials. The statistics showed that the total number of the crowd in the final match was more than 27,000 people.
The final encounter started with both teams focusing in back lines to prevent receiving any goals especially in the first quarter. Seeb began to press hard towards Al Rustaq’s side as the first attempt was from Mohsin al Ghassani who tried to send a strong ball but went above the bar and away from Rustaq’s goalie Ammar al Rusheidi in the 13th minute.
Rustaq bounced back strongly but AbdulRahman al Ghassani’s attempt went past goalie Ahmed al Rawahi missing the target. In the 26th minute, Seeb missed a chance to score the opening goal as Hameed Medo’s header went above the bar after a perfect cross from Ali al Busaidi. Oman international referee Ahmed al Kaaf showed the first yellow card in the match for Mohammed al Ghafri after his tough tackle against a Seeb player in the 29th minute.
A curling strike from AbdulRahman al Ghassani was denied by the Seeb goalkeeper Ahmed al Rawahi in the 38th minute. The first half ended in a goalless draw. LAST-GASP GOALS Both coaches preferred to continue with the same faces in the second half.
The forward movement from both sides were very cautious and the defenders acted very well to deny all the attempts. Rustaq’s Mohammed al Ghafri missed a golden attempt that could have put Al Rustaq ahead after his shot touched the bar in the 65th minute. Rustaq head coach Catellin Mihai made the first substitution in the 66th minute replacing Faisal al Balushi with Faldini Alfes. Seeb striker lost a close scoring chance in the 74th minute.
As the match was approaching its end, Rustaq’s AbdulRahman al Ghassani was very close to hitting the target but his shot went above the bar. After a period of playing smart football, Seeb efforts were converted into a goal as Mohsin al Ghassani made the breakthrough in the 86th minute.
Referee Al Kaaf showed a red card to Rustaq’s Abbas al Hashmi in the dying minutes. Seeb powered ahead after the goal as they hit the second through Amjad al Harthi in the third minute of additional time. The injury time continued without any changes and Seeb completed a deserving victory against a fighting Al Rustaq 2-0.
