Matale Legends beat CH to win Masters Hockey League
Matale Legends led by former national player Palitha Weerasinghe beat Colombo Hockey and Football Club (CH & FC) to win the Cup final by 2-1 in the second Masters Hockey League 9-a-side tournament held at Astro Turf on Sunday.
The tournament was organised by Sri Lanka Masters National Hockey Association (SLMNHA) for the second time after a lapse of five years.
Cup Champions, Matale Legends
Matale Legends in Group A beat Sri Lanka Masters Gold (2-1), Old Bens (3-0), Badulla Masters (1-0) and BRC (1-0) in the group matches before taking the unbeaten CH team in the cup final.
CH in Group B won all the round robin matches beating Sri Lanka Maters Maroon (1-0), CR & FC (1-0), Old DS Sports Club (3-0) and Malays (2-0).
In the final which was played partially under flood lights Matale Legends got some solid chances, but CH defended well to end the match in a scoreless draw. The winner was chosen with the single series penalty and Matale Legends won by 2-1. Premesh Cramer, former Sri Lankan national and army striker, scored the winning goal for Matale Legends through the penalty stroke. International hockey umpire Mahesh Abeywickrama and Damith Jayasena controlled the cup final.
CH & FC’s center half Thilina Perera was awarded Lloyed Fredrick memorial trophy for the Player of the tournament.
The trophy was given in memory of Lloyed Fredrick Colin Mariyanayagam, one of the founder members of SLMNHA and a member of Sri Lanka Masters National Hockey team which represented Masters World Cup in Spain in 2018. The award was given by his wife Ms. Achala Fredrick.
Best Player , Thilina Perera, CH & FC
In the Plate final, Sri Lanka Masters Gold team won by a solitary goal against CR & FC with Yohan Lewke scored in the penalty corner in the final seconds of the match after both teams missed their best chances during the game.In the Bowl final, Badulla Masters beat Old DS Sports Club by 1-0.
The 23-game tourney saw some of the most talented national players in the game who have done yeoman service for the country and the game at the young age when they represented Sri Lanka.
Nemantha Abeysinghe, the Group General Manager of Nippon Paint Lanka (Pvt) Ltd was the chief guest for the finals with Achala Fredrick was the guest of honour. The SLMNHA president Fowzul Hameed alone with the chief guest gave away the awards.