Sparks set to fly in S. Thomas’-Gateway football floodlit clash at Racecourse on January 25
Skippers of S. Thomas' and Gateway with the trophy on offer - Pix Amila Gamage
The stage is set for the second annual football encounter between S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia and Gateway College for the prestigious Neville de Alwis-Ralph Alles Challenge Trophy that will be played on Saturday January 25 at the Racecourse stadium in Reid Avenue.
Organised in collaboration with the Football Federation of Sri Lanka, hosts S. Thomas’ have included several junior matches and a girls exhibition match between Gateway and Overseas School of Colombo before the ‘big match’ is played under lights with kick-off 6.30pm.
The day’s events will begin with an Under-12 match at 1.30pm (15 minutes each half), followed by Under-14 (20 minutes each half), Under-16 (25 minutes each half), Under-20 girls (20 minutes each half) and the trophy match which will be played over a duration of 80 minutes.
Gateway won the inaugural encounter played in January 2019, handing the Thomians a shock 5-1 drubbing but are bracing for a tough contest this time. This year spectators can expect an exciting game as both teams are equally matched, each having had a series of wins in the last year.
“This time round I suspect we will see less of a one-sided effort and a better game for S. Thomas’. I hope there is a different winner but at the end of the day the better team must always win,” said Rev. Marc Billimoria, Warden of S. Thomas’ at a press conference held at the school hall on Thursday to announce details of the match.
“The architect of football, starting it up after a long gap of 50 years in the 80s is our new Director of Sports, Dinesh Kumarasinghe . He is the person who revived football at S. Thomas’ when he was a student here. I believe he was instrumental in getting it off the ground and from then on we have come up to this level. We have a long journey to go,” said Rev. Billimoria lauding Thomian captain Shevaan Ebenezer for having the rare privilege of leading S. Thomas’ in a ‘big match’ for the second consecutive year.
Chairman of Gateway Group Dr. Harsha Alles at the outset said each time he walked into S. Thomas’ it was as if he was walking into a school in Britain.
“I am not surprised why S.Thomas’ is known to be the Eden of Sri Lanka,” he said hailing the long and rich sporting tradition the Thomians have with Royal College.
The captains of Gateway (L) and OSC (R) holding the trophies alongside the officials
He noted with pride that the students playing in all age groups have had their entire training in the school.
“Irrespective of the result, both schools had a great time especially students who came to watch the game which was played in extremely good spirits and this year I have absolutely no doubt it would only get better because S. Thomas’ has taken up the responsibility of organising the entire game and they have chosen Racecourse as the venue. They have taken it further by including junior games before the main game. We also have the girls game where Gateway would have the privilege of playing Overseas School of Colombo (OSC). We look forward to a great game of girls football,” said Dr. Alles.
The Gateway girls team is led by Aisha Frank and OSC by Disara Samayawardhena. OSC coach Andrea Fleming from the United States said they have been training since October.
Vinita Shenoy, Principal of Gateway said sports helped develop team spirit. Head coach of Gateway senior boys team James Heath from England was quietly confident of success in the big game.
The key players for Gateway are Nansika and Samunu Kaggodaarachchi, and Bineetha Chandrasena.
“Nansika Kaggodarachchi the top scorer in international schools tournament and Bineetha Chandrasena are high scoring players. Captain Areeb Niyaz is a dangerous player. Samunu Kaggodarachchi is the one who controls the midfield,” said Heath.
Gateway captain Areeb said they have been training constantly and are in shape for the big match.
“It is a good opportunity for international school student to play a big match of this nature. It is something that we look forward to. We hope to give our very best like last time,” said Areeb who is also an athlete.
The Thomians are buoyed by their success over Royal and retaining the trophy after a draw against Trinity.
“We feel very confident going into this match after we beat Royal. Overall we had a good season compared to other seasons,” said Mahith Perera, who has represented Sri Lanka at Under-16 level in AFC and South Asian tournaments.
“We haven’t played previously with Gateway and we didn’t expect much of a fight. We actually went easy into the match. We didn’t have much time to practice,” said skipper Shevaan of their defeat in the inaugural clash. “It’s a friendly game. We want to do our best this time,” he added.
| Squads | |
| S. Thomas’ D. Shevaan Ebenezer (Captain), M.T. Rabel, T. ShayanJ . Weeratunge, Senal V. de Alwis (VC), S.E. Aharan, A.J. Benjamin, M.K. Suhayb, M. Pathmawaman, Niven R. Nanayakkara, D. Shivadarshan, A.A. Janees, M.J. Rodrigo, Anuk N. Nilaweera, G.K. Mack, N. Malith M. Perera, S.C. de Silva, Kaveesh K.N. Kamalachandra, S.Y.S. Anthonisz, J. Adesh Fernando, D.F. Tarik Perera, D.F. Chetan Perera. Gateway |