The 12th Annual Trinity- STC Hockey Encounter took place on Friday, 30th September at the Reid Avenue Astro Turf. S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia outscored their counterparts 5-2, to win the Warden Neville de Alwis Memorial Shield, after a lapse of 7 years.

Let’s delve into what happened during the encounter.

The First Half

TCK won the toss and went on to start off the game. S. Thomas’ took steady control of the match in the first half, being able to move the ball exceptionally well among its midfielders and forwards. After a brilliant set of quick passes on the counter attack, K. Karresh tipped the ball into the goal off Ellepola’s pass which beat the goalkeeper completely as S. Thomas’ drew first blood in the third minute.

14524343_10155354919644251_3412586022347525584_o (1)Trinity was clearly having trouble adjusting to the playing conditions of the turf. Their eleven were unable to complete passes around the court.  K. Karresh doubled the Thomians score in the 6th minute, again off Ellepola’s assist. The Trinity camp was struggling in their game; failing to even advance into the Thomian ‘D’. Ashwin Ellepola scored in the 11th minute, bringing the Thomians score up to 3-0, halfway through the first half.

Trinity College, led by captain and playmaker Kasun Jayasinghe tried all the tricks up their sleeves to shift momentum. Eventually, towards the latter part of the half, they managed to advance and attempt shots at the Thomian goal.

Kavindu Mahavansakkara deflected the ball completely bamboozling the keeper, off a brilliant cross court pass by Nallapperuma, to score the Thomians fourth goal in the 17th minute. K. Sangeeth struck a reverse shot onto the board for the Trinitians after a tussle in the Thomian ‘D” in the dying seconds of the first half to score TCK’s 1st goal.

Half Time:  S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia 4 – Trinity College, Kandy 1

The Second Half.

The second period of the encounter gave witness to the Trinitians going all out to make up for the deficit. However, the Thomians scored yet another goal, off a well-executed set piece on a penalty corner awarded early in the second half (5-1).

Trinity College Kandy were left reeling at this juncture, the deficit seeming too daunting of a task, with little time left to make amends. The experienced Kasun Jayasinghe, coolly led the lads from Kandy through one attack after the other, only to be thwarted by the tight Thomian defense.

S. Thomas’ seemed to make silly errors throughout this half, missing out on certain goal scoring opportunities. Trinity scored with one minute left in the game. Vice-Captain U. Thararatharan’s shot found the back of the goal in the penalty corner.

Full Time:  S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia 5 – Trinity College, Kandy 2

It was mostly a one sided encounter, with the Thomians, who showcased a well-balanced half-line, and strikers, led by Romesh Nallapperuma and Javindu Pieris,  controlling the game. Thilina Dela and Devmal Palapathwala controlled the Thomian defense. The fact that the rest of the eleven combined and settled around these key players, was rather pleasing to the eyes of the spectators.

14560139_10155354919394251_7372816675501606132_oTrinity College was unable to deliver their usual brand of hockey last evening. Their set plays led by the captain, were unable to make a difference on this day. In stark contrast to their opponents, the TCK eleven did not combine to advance into the Thomian half. This, and the playing conditions of the turf, which they definitely have little experience playing on, made the difference which was reflected on the scoreboard.

The Neville de Alwis Memorial Shield will take its place by the Sea, after a long stint in the hills. The 13th Annual Trinity- STC Hockey Encounter, will be hosted by Trinity College, Kandy next year. Both teams will face Royal College, Colombo for their respective encounters in the month of October.

The Old Boys Encounter for the Mirzan Ousmand Trophy ended in a 1-1 draw. S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia also clinched the U-15 trophy having outscored Trintiy 3-0.

Best Player Awards

  • 1st XI – Thilina Dela (VC- S. Thomas’)
  • U-15 – Chelvendran Vishvaharan