East Riffa barge into King’s Cup final

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.co

East Riffa claimed a stunning 2-0 triumph over heavily favoured Riffa last night to make it through to the final of His Majesty the King’s Cup football tournament.

Aguinaldo Policarpo was on target for the victors in the first half while Hazza Ali inadvertently fired into his net with just a quarter-hour remaining in the contest.

East Riffa came away with a tremendous upset against their neighbours, as Riffa headed into this year’s competition as the two-time defending King’s Cup champions, having won the prestigious trophy over the last two seasons.

East Riffa is now back in the title-decider for the first time since 2014, which was also the last year they won the crown.

East Riffa will face Al Khaldiya in the final, which has yet to be scheduled by the Bahrain Football Association.

 Khaldiya advanced following a 2-0 win over Al Najma on Wednesday night.

East Riffa will be gunning for their fourth King’s Cup crown, while Khaldiya will be hoping to win their first—which will also be their maiden championship at the top level in Bahrain football.

In last night’s semi-final, Riffa had the first real chance to open the scoring but Sayed Redha Isa could not tap in the cross supplied by Ali from the left flank, despite being unmarked in the face of goal.

Riffa had another golden opportunity in the 27th minute when Hashem Sayed Isa was supplied a fine pass by Jassim Al-Shaikh right in front of the goal, but he could not muster up a shot even without being pressed by the opposing defence.

East Riffa made them pay in the 40th minute following a brilliant solo effort from Angolan-Portuguese professional Aguinaldo.

The striker took advantage of some poor communication between Riffa’s defenders and stole possession.

He then charged towards the goal and rounded Riffa’s Hamad Shamsan to create some space from himself in the box, before unleashing an unstoppable shot to the left of the net past Riffa goalkeeper Abdulla Ali Efrih.

Aguinaldo could have made it two just two minutes later, but he hit a shot that was just inches off target from the right post.

East Riffa was still able to head into the locker rooms with the slim, single-goal advantage.

The match was then all but decided in the 74th minute when East Riffa took a 2-0 lead following Ali’s own goal.

Aguinaldo passed to Nigerian teammate Prince Obus Aggreh on the left, and he looked to make something happen.

Aggreh then sent in a cross from an acute angle on the edge of the penalty area, and as Ali attempted to make a clearance, he unintentionally sent the ball into his net.

Riffa tried valiantly to fight back until the very last minute of second-half stoppage time, but East Riffa did well to defend and preserve the two-goal margin.

HM the King’s Cup football tournament is a knockout competition that is the richest in Bahrain.

The champions each year receive $200,000 in prize money, while the runners-up get $80,000.

Riffa is the competition’s two-time defending champion.