Royal Thomian Hockey Encounter ends in a stalemate

The 17^th Annual Royal Thomian Hockey encounter for the coveted Orville Abeynaike Trophy took place at the Reid Avenue Astro Turf last evening. The two teams were declared Joint Champions, with the final score reading 0-0.  Javindu Pieris captained the Thomians, while Sajana de Zoyza led the Royal 1^st XI.

Hosted by the Thomians this year, the match took place at the Reid Avenue Astro Turf. The 1^st XI game took place under floodlights for first time ever at the schools level of the sport.

S. Thomas’ College won the toss and went on to start the game. They proceeded to steer the momentum in the first half. Working the ball well amongst the forward line, they penetrated the opponent’s ‘D’ on countless occasions. Romesh Nallapperuma was the key man on the offense, creating plays for the forwards to take shots at the goal. However, the Royal College defenders kept them at bay, and warded off any possible scoring opportunities. The boys from Reid Avenue, were quite on the back foot, defending waves of attacks. They hardly gained any access to the Thomian ‘D’ in the first half.

The second half saw a more settled game played by the Royal College team. They came together, and proceeded to organize their attacks at the Thomian goal. However, they could not find the net. S. Thomas’ were granted 7 penalty corners and Royal 3. None of them seemed to capitalize on these opportunities, lacking a certain finish in their well-executed attacking strategies. As a result, the score was 0-0 at full time. Thereafter, the game went into two periods of extra time. S. Thomas’ had a couple more chances to score in extra time including a last minute short corner saved by the Royal defense. Hence, both teams were declared as Joint Champions at the end of extra-time

The Thomians clearly dominated on possession and offense throughout the game. The Royalists gutsy efforts to hold on the waves of counterattacks should be commended.

Romesh Nallaperuma of S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia was declared as Player of the Match.

Old Boy’s Encounter : STC 3 – RC 1

U – 15 Encounter : STC 0 – RC 2