Hockey where Mt. Lavinia meets Matale
The Matale Thomians lead the tally 1-0 with two encounters ending in draws
The fourth Hockey Big Match between the Mt. Lavinia Thomians and their counterparts from Matale will be bullied off on November 3 at the Astro Turf in Reid Avenue.
Started in 2015, this match is played for the Eric Hulangamuwe Shield, the Matale Thomians won the inaugural match 2-0, while the next two ended in no decisions.
Hockey is the main sport in the sleepy town of Matale. It is no surprise to see leaps of youngsters caressing their hockey sticks and making their way to the celebrated Edward Park grounds early morning on Saturdays and Sundays. This is similar to the Badminton fever that raged in Ambalangoda some years back.
This enthusiasm probably springs from the fact that Matale, the cradle of Sri Lankan Hockey, produced some vintage players at National Level. Ranjith Wijekoon, a dazzling centre forward who represented an Asian All Stars team is indubitably, the greatest of them all. Brothers — Hubert and Douglas were also national assets. The list of national representatives goes on and on. Suffice it to mention some – Ranjith Alahakoon, Sunil Deegahawatura, Sarath Wimalasinghe, C.K. Hulangamuwe, Indrawawansa Herath, R. Mahendran, G.H. Jayatissa and G.H. Rupesinghe.
As far as S. Thomas’ is concerned, there is an inalienable link between cricket and Hockey, Chandran Schaffter, Corky Abeysekera, P.S. Kumara (a Tennis Celebrity), Gamini Marapone, Anura Tennekoon, Sarath Seneviratne, Jayampathi Bandaranaike, Michael Tissera, Ishak Shahabdeen and Lakshman Watawala were superb exponents of the game played with the curved stick. With the exception of Watawala, all the other Thomians were outstanding at cricket. Tennekoon and Tissera led the National Team.
A word about D.D. Abeysekera, Corky, as he was commonly known, was the rock of Sri Lanka’s defence when she faced international opposition. It should also be mentioned that Corky and P.S. Kumara made bowlers and fielders run for cover when they gave fine rein to their explosive batting talents at school.
The Matale Thomians have produced four of the nine International Hockey Umpires that the country beasts of Jayampathi Perera, R.S. Somasekeram, Indrawansa Herath and D.R.B. Dissanayake are the officials.
The match schedule is as follows:
- Under-15 match at 2.00pm
- Old Boys Match at 3.00pm
- The main battle of the Thomians at 4.15pm