Musaeus in nail-biting win over Gateway
Musaeus College, Colombo scored a nail-biting 25-27 points victory over Gateway College to be the first winners of the Marie Musaeus-Rohini Alles Netball Trophy at the Royal College Sports Complex last weekend. In a match where the spectators were kept on the edge of their seats as fortunes swayed. Both teams match each other in every department of the game displayed a high quality of netball which will remain in the memory of every one who was present at the venue.
The Musaeus netball team after claiming the inaugural win
A game which the goal defence and goal attackers were kept busy as every moment the scoreboard was kept ticking. The game got off in terrific pace as both sides kept invading each others goal area. The first quarter came to an end 7-7. Gateway shot to the lead in the 2nd quarter adding seven points while Musaeus took their score to 13. With the score standing 21-20 in favour of Gateway the 3rd quarter came to an end. Changing the pattern of play Musaeus College added speed to their attack while Gateway College too kept the Musaeus goal defenders busy. The final whistle blew with the score standing 27-25 as Musaeus College became the proud owners of the glittering Musaeus-Alles Trophy.
Individual Awards were won by: Pramoda Jayasekera (Musaeus College) – Best Player; Dilmi Wijenayake (Musaeus College) – Best Shooter and Aneesha Perera (Gateway College) – Best Defender. Musaeus College scored an easy 17-5 victory in the Under 15 encounter with Melina Roberts (Musaeus College) been adjudged the Best Player while Kevinya Rajapakshe (Musaeus Collge) and Nethanga Gunarathne (Musaeus College) grabbed the Best Shooters and Best Defenders Trophies respectively.
In the invitation match between Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo and Gateway College, Kandy, the Colombo lasses emerged victors with a 15-8 win. Pramoda Jayasekera, skipper of Musaeus College speaking to the Education Times paid a glowing tribute to her team for winning the match as they played without much practice. As every member of the team had a hand in their victory with fine team work. At the start the players were a bit excided but settle down and played a well controlled game she concluded.
Gateway captain Malshi De Silva said that she is highly satisfied with the way her team performed. Winning or losing is a part of the game and most valuable thing is how you played the game. She is confident that netball at Gateway will improving year by year and will be side to be reckoned in the very near future. – Lakshman Ranasinghe; Pix by Ranjith Perera
