Royal stickers edge out Thomians

In a stunning upset, underdogs Royal College secured victory over arch-rivals S Thomas’ College, claiming the 22nd Orville Abeynaike Memorial Trophy with a 1-0 win, thanks to centre forward Yusuf Shihar’s solitary penalty corner goal at the Colombo University grounds on Saturday.

Despite being the clear favourites the Mount Lavinia team couldn’t maintain their dominance on the field. The hosts, led by captain Aakash Wijesekera, took control of the game from the outset but missed several close chances during repeated penalty corners.

The turning point of the match came in the 43rd minute when Yusuf Shihar’s penalty corner strike changed the course of the game. Shihar lofted the ball into the goal with his second attempt, securing a historic victory for the Reid Avenue team.

Center Half Thaveeru Alahakoom of Royal was named the best player of the game for his consistent and solid defense throughout the match.

The Thomians were thwarted by the resolute Royalists, securing a famous victory for their school. Despite this win, S Thomas’ College maintains the overall lead in the series with 10 wins compared to Royal’s seven since the trophy’s inception in 2000. In the junior under-16 category, St. Thomas’ emerged victorious with a 1-0 score, thanks to Joshua Jayaweera’s early goal.

In the over 35 old boys’ match, Royal College secured a 2-1 victory, with goals from Sampath Subasinghe and Manuka Pawan. Tivanka Wijeratna scored for Thomians in the final minute via a penalty corner.

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