RCA, RAO set for final clash

Muscat, July 31 - Royal Court Affairs (RCA) and Royal Army of Oman (RAO) will face off in a tight clash to decide the title holders in the final match of the Military League football. The match will kick-off at 6:10 pm at the Salalah Sports Complex. Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan al Busaidy, Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar, will be the chief guest in presence of top dignitaries and other officials. RAO reached the final after edging Engineering Services team of Ministry of Defence in a 4-2 penalty shoot-out. The original time of the match finished in a goalless draw. RAO topped the second group with nine points as they registered wins in all matches expect one. RAO team is the best team in the league till now as far as scoring goals is concerned. They topped the list with eight goals. On the other hand, RCA, one of the favourites to clinch this edition of the league, secured position in the final after Said al Ruziaqi scored the winner in the last minute of the match against defending champions Royal Guard of Oman (RGO). RCA were second in the group round qualifications with nine points behind RAO, who topped the group on better goal average. RCA started their campaign with a 3-1 win over Royal Army of Oman while their second victory was against Royal Navy of Oman by 2-1. RCA suffered their first loss against RAO. On the other hand, RAO topped the group with 9 points. RAO players are keen to clinch their ninth title as they were crowned with league shield in the following years: 1985, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2011 and 2013, while RCA team is looking for the title for first time in its history. Adil al Balushi