Royal stickers beat S. Thomas’ to retain Orville Abeynaike Trophy
View(s):A penalty corner goal by 15-year old Rumal Jayasinghe helped Royal College beat arch rivals S. Thomas’ College in their 23rd annual hockey encounter played at Mount Lavinia last weekend to retain the Orville Abeynaike Trophy.
The match was heading for a stalemate till Jayasinghe broke the deadlock by scoring the solitary goal for Royal after a rebound from a penalty corner early in the fourth quarter.
The Thomians played an attacking game, but the Royalists thwarted all their efforts including a last minute penalty corner in a thrilling clash.
Jayasinghe, a fresher, was adjudged as the most valuable player for his goal, while another 15-year-old rookie, Royal goalkeeper Stefan Antonypillai, was awarded the best goalkeeper in the senior category.
The victorious Royal College hockey team (Standing front row from left): Ashvin Wettasinghe, Anuk Kaveeja, Haazim Dhailamy, Matheesha Wijesekera, Sihath Dassanayake (Captain), Yusuf Shihar, Minol Fernando, Muadh Mueen, Thevjan Weerasekara, Lithum Karunasiri (Standing back row from left): Rumal Jayasinghe, Stefan Anthonypillai, Senul Liyanage, Ruvi Perera, Akash Dashendra, Aathif Faleel, Rivisha Marambage (Vice Captain), Kevindu Dharmarathne, Geesath Bathisha, Nehan Wijesekara
With this win, Royal has won the Orville Abeynaike Trophy eight times while S. Thomas’ has won it 10 times. Five encounters have ended in draws. The event began in 2000.
Royal made a clean sweep this year winning the Under-16 encounter played for the Chandi Chanmugam Challenge Trophy by 2-0 and Under-14 game played for the Amitha Abeynaike Memorial Trophy by 2-0.
In the old boys’ category, the Over-40 game ended in a 2-2 draw with Royal retaining the trophy while the Thomian old boys won the Under-40 game to regain Nihal Nilaweera Memorial Challenge Trophy.
The Royal senior team is coached by former national sticker and Air Force player Damith Panditharathne while the junior teams are coached by Lushantha Perera, a former Anandian who has produced some excellent hockey players in Colombo in the recent past.