Zahira College Matale emerged All Island Inter School National hockey champions for the first occasion in the boys category when they defeated St. Aloysious College 2-1 in the finals which was worked off at the Astro Turf in Colombo.
History was rewritten in the books of Zahira College hockey as the school celebrated their first ever title in the sport of hockey. Zahira College Matale, commonly known for their talent in football has had hockey as one of the major sports along the line. Hockey in the country has always been the forte of schools from Kandy and Matale over the past few years and it was the first time Zahira College Gampola had won a competitive final of this sort.
Coincidently, the Aloysions from Galle also have made it to the finals for the first occasion. With Zahira College going in as favorites, Zahira had to face St. Aloysious to take honors. The Zahirians opened the score line in the finals with skipper Abdur Rahman pushing the ball forward sending it through to Ashir Lafir who scored. St. Aloysious later equalized off forward Silva keeping the chances of the Galle gladiators still open.
However it was Zahira’s Mohammed Mubashir who brought glory with his goal in the second half sealing a 2-1 win for Zahira College Matale. It was a glorious win for the lads from Matale as they lifted their first silverware in the sport of hockey for the first time. Zahira College missed out glory in the past two occasions where they ended up third and second. This time around, they did not let defeat seep through and the determination they possessed got them through to lift the trophy.
Zahira College started their campaign with an easy 3-0 win over St. Thomas’ College Matara and later defeated the heavyweights D.S. Senanayaka College 1-0. As they advanced through to the semi finals, they were matched up with Wenappuwa Central College. It was skipper Abdul Rahman who got them through to the final scoring the goal and winning the encounter 1-0.
ThePapare.com spoke to the coach of the winning team; Muthabilb Ghazali who shared these words,
“During the course of the tournament and before the tournament there were lot of obstacles on our path. Our players hard work and dedication helped us get through. Just like a graph has its ups and downs, our graph too had ups and downs. It came to the very top but it never reached the breaking point. We are so much thankful to everyone who helped us.
The winning skipper describes this achievement as a result of over 30 years of dedication and hard work put through to the sport by his school.
“A dream doesn’t become a reality through magic. But it takes sweat, determination and hard work. My team gave all what a champion team should give. I’d like to remind all the past hockey players back then who gave their very best to win the championship. Unfortunately it didn’t happen and after almost 30 years we made it and this victory is for all the Zahirians who supported us from the beginning to the end”
