Ali Thameem
This Thursday night, New Radiant had all to play for. All to prove to their fans that they got to escape this familiar pattern, with Maziya getting away with delivering checkmate on them every time they meet.
And they did prove it, and did so in the most dramatic fashion.
It was a comeback for the ages. As stoppage time approached with 2-2 on the scoreboard, there were twenty players on the pitch. A brawl had resulted in both teams going down to ten men. New Radiant’s substitute Yazdhaan made an overlap on the right before crossing in for Dorielton Gomes to finish it off and deliver the most pivotal of results.
Earlier in the game, Maziya had taken the lead twice, with Ibrahim Aisam striking a brace. New Radiant equalized twice, first via Hassan Raaif, then from an Ali Fasir strike.
This was no ordinary result, from the perspective of either of the two clubs. Maziya had been on an unbeaten streak in the league for the past four years and five months. The last time Maziya lost a DPL game was in April 2022.
But this result has more to do with New Radiant, and their rivalry with the defending champions.
Since they returned to top-flight football last year, New Radiant have been in exceptional form. For a club that spent most of the past eight years away from top-flight football, New Radiant have, for the most part, lived up to the expectation of their fans.
To be unbeaten in fifteen of the eighteen games in last season’s Dhivehi Premier League was truly remarkable. On top of that, New went on to win the FA Cup, lifting the trophy for the 13th time.
But throughout an otherwise heroic, redemptive arc throughout the past sixteen months, New Radiant have had a profound weakness – an Achilles’ heel – that needed to be dealt with: Maziya Sports and Recreation.
New had dropped points on both occasions when they met Maziya last season. In Gameweek 9 of last DPL season, they faced each other for the first time in seven years. An early goal from Da Silva was neutralized by Maziya’s Aiham, before Hamza dealt a final blow to the Blues. When they met again for the 17th Gameweek in late January, New Radiant had lost their title hopes. Maziya, who had just been confirmed champions, nevertheless held New Radiant to a 2-2 draw.
But what really haunted New Radiant was the President’s Cup semifinal. They were two-nil down at halftime: brace from Maziya’s Ahmed Aiham saw to that. The Blues dragged the game to penalties after second-half goals from Ali Ashfaq and Al-Haji Gero, only to lose it in the shootout.
The season ended with New unable to win any of the four clashes with Maziya: A defeat in the opening fixture of the pre-season ‘League Cup’, followed by a defeat and a draw in the DPL, and the knocking out from the President’s Cup.
The new season began with the similar results, all in Maziya’s favor. Charity shield was a sort of deja vu’. Only, with two goals from the newly transferred number-nine Dorielton Gomes and another from Ali Fasir, New were 3-1 up at half-time. Maziya’s Ilan scored a second goal, and Ibrahim Mahudhee with another to take the game to penalties, from which the The Green Boys took home the Charity Shield.
The return of the Cup Winners’ Cup saw New Radiant and Maziya both pull-off an unbeaten run-up to the final. Following another 1-1 draw in the league stage, the two met in the third final in the span of months. New had to equalize twice, both from goals by Ali Fasir, to catch up to make it 2-2. But the last thing they would have wanted was another penalty shootout, let alone with Maziya.
It must have been a painful watch for the Blues fans. To see their club reach within a touching distance to a title once again, only to lose it on penalties yet again.
But those were only learning experiences for New Radiant, building up to what they demonstrated last night. They have overcome their biggest frustration since returning to Dhivehi Premier League.
However big last night was for the Blues, and for Maziya, it was just one of many game weeks. There are fourteen fixtures ahead, against clubs which, with an influx of new signings across the board, are now stronger than they have ever looked. The best of the DPL is yet to come.
