RRC and STO reaches the final of Club Maldives Cup

Road Recreation Club and STO RC have qualified for the final of Club Maldives Cup 2025, after last night’s semifinal games.

In the first game of the semifinal, RRC cruised past Maldivian with a dominant 9-3 victory, and qualified for the CMC finals for the third year in a row.

RRC were the team to break the deadlock with a goal from Adam Nasih, but conceded an own goal just moments later. The first half ended 2-1 after Mohsen pulled one back for RRC before the break.

Second half saw a total nine goals. Hat-tricks by Ali Shaamis and Adam Nasih in the second half helped RRC regain a healthy lead. Two goals from Ahmed Aflaaz further helped RRC the consolidate the advantage over Maldivian.

A gesture of respect from Ahmed Aflaaz after scoring against his former club Maldivian. Photo: Abdhulla Yashau / Sidibari

The two goals from Maldivian – by Hussain Maishan and Ahmed Azmeen – were mere consolations.

Following the match, RRC head Coach said in an interview that because it is a knockout match and the pressure is high, understandably there are moments where that pressure gets overwhelming. That was such a moment where RRC let the early lead slip in the first half. “Maldivian’s squad depth was a little shallow compared to that of Road, and maybe that was the advantage we really had… It is not easy to reach the title unless we work extremely hard. That’s what we are going to do in the upcoming days (before the final)”.

The second semifinal saw STO and MPL – two of the most decorated teams in CMC history – fight for a long-awaited spot in the final. Just as he did in the quarterfinal against MTCC, it was STO’s super-sub Raahil Rasheed who scored against MPL with seven minutes remaining in the first half, to open the scoring.

The next goal came in the dying moments of the game. As MPL looked for an equalizer with goalkeeper Ismail Fathih joining the attack inside the STO half, a miss-pass blew all hopes of a comeback for MPL, as STO’s Mohamed Imran struck a long shot from inside his own half into the empty net.

Saturday night’s final match will see whether STO have it in them to add to their four stars, or if the third final in succession is in fact a charm for Road Recreation Club.