Despite wet and gloomy conditions, Royal College's Shan Lakshitha shone bright with four goals which propelled Royal College to a resounding 8-5 victory over their long-time rivals S. Thomas' College, to clinch the R.L Hayman Trophy, during their second leg water polo clash at the Police Pool yesterday.
In keeping with the weather, the encounter saw a downpour of goals with Hashaka Nissanga, Hasin Manikkbawa, Musharaff Uwais, Kanishka Fernando and Lakshitha scoring for Royal and Newmal Wickramasinghe, Tisura Thamanegama, Senitha Gunawardena, A. Peiris and Dilan Gunawardene slotting in for S. Thomas'.
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| A tussle for the ball at the Royal-Thomian water polo encounter - Pic by Amila Prabodha |
The overall tally read 14-9 in Royal's favour, after they ran away to a 6-3 win during their first leg match earlier in the week. Nevertheless, during most of the second leg things looked like they were going the Thomians' way, even though they kept trading goals with the Royalists.
With a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Thomians were sitting pretty on a 5-4 lead and seemed for all money to have clinched the contest. Yet Royal, spearheaded by Lakshitha, had different ideas. In a flash, Lakshitha powerfully whipped in a goal to tie the game at 5-5 before moving his side ahead with a laser-guided throw that exploded into the back of the net.
With the score on 6-5, the Thomians were rattled, and the roar of Royal's supporters, who like their Thomian counterparts had braved the inclement weather to cheer on their team, began to rise by several decibels.
The Royalists in turn gave them something to cheer about within the space of a few minutes, with Manikkbawa flinging in another goal to put the decision beyond doubt. However, there was time for one more goal, and Fernando obliged to put the cherry on the cake and set off Royal's celebrations.
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