Dordoi-Dynamo players celebrate their victory over Ratnam Sports Club in Lahore on Friday. Photo by: AFC/Stanley Chou

LAHORE: Defending champions Kyrgyzstan's Dordoi-Dynamo prevailed over Sri Lanka's Ratnam Sports Club 4-3 on penalties to set up the summit clash with Nepal’s Mahendra Police Club in the AFC President’s Cup here on Friday night.

Both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time when David Tetteh’s opener for Dordoi in the 21st minute was cancelled out by Kasun Jayasuriya in the 43rd minute.

Dordoi custodian Valerii Kashuba proved to be their hero as he blocked Rizwan Sahib Mohamed and stand-in captain Akila Maduranga’s shots in the shoot-out while Igor Kudrenko, Roman Kornilov, Ruslan Sydykov and Azamat Ishenbaev successfully converted their shots for the Kyrygz outfit.

Dordoi have been the form side of the event, and with Tajikistan's Regar-TadAZ laid low by Nepal's Mahendra Police Club the other night in the first semi-final, the Kyrgyz side will carry Central Asian hopes of retaining their monopoly on the title.

Perhaps inspired by Mahendra Police Club's giant-slaying the other night, Ratnam gave Dordoi-Dynamo a run for their money almost throughout – only to be undone on penalties.

As the teams remained unseparated after 30 minutes of extra time, Ratnam seemed upbeat at holding their top notch opponents thus far while Dordoi looked quite understandably deflated. But there was redemption for Dordoi, as Ratnam missed two to their one on the penalty kicks. In a game where the accent was on defence, with Ratnam's definitely more stout given the attacking prowess of Dordoi, a goal apiece was scored in the first half by both teams. That tally sustained till the end. In the 21st minute, Dordoi midfielder David Tetteh drew first blood, jumping high to the left wing corner from Valery Berezovsky and his fierce header was simply too good for Ratnam's keeper Dammika Senarath.

Had striker Andrey Krasnov's headers from close range were good enough, Dordoi would have reinforced this lead in the 26th and 38th minute. But with those opportunities went abegging, Ratnam drew level against the run of play when winger Kasun Jayasuriya in 43rd minute took full toll from a free-kick from the right flank, slotting his header home into the left corner. Only a minute, Jayasuriya got another gilt-edged opportunity but his drive off Channa flashed past the right post.

Dordoi finally sent in their star striker Roman Kornilov – who had in their last league game pumped in four goals against Tatung – in the 56th minute and he created three chances in the second half. Ratnam defence held its fort well to his onslaught while getting their own chances through Channa, Jayasuriya and Chathura but Valerii Kashuba was unbeatable under the Dordoi bar.

With regulation time running out, the match inevitably moved into the 30-minutes extra time. With too remaining barren, the shoot-out gave the title holders the opportunity for an encore.

Dordoi-Dynamo coach Boris Podkorytov was happy with the result but said his team needs to work more on finishing.

“We knew that it will be a tough game as they are a good team. They also played well against the Tajikistan club in the group game. My players made good moves and also got chances but strikers failed to find the net.” “In the end, I am happy that we again made it to the final. I would like my strikers to work more on finishing before the final.” Ratnam coach Packeer Ali said: “We succeeded to hold them for 120 minutes. We played defensive and only concentrated on counterattacks. I told my defenders to be careful of high balls as they had height advantage.” “My players played their hearts out and they deserve credit for their performance.” The final will be played on Sunday.