The inauguration of the blue Astro turf in Colombo was ceremonially opened on Wednesday in the presence of a large gathering of hockey enthusiasts at Torrington and the opening ceremony was followed by hockey matches from the Western Province schools under 19 champion teams.
In the boys’ category, S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia beat traditional arch rival Royal College, Colombo by one goal to nil as both teams played a fast game of hockey in the first half though the Thomians had better control of the game.
In the 10th minute of the first half, a hard long pass was originated by the Thomian skipper and center half Joshua David to his teammate left-extreme Rohith Kiridena who beat two Royal College defenders with beautiful stick work to sound the board and score what was anticipated.
The Royalists mounted the pressure on the Thomians from the commencement of the second half but the Thomian grit was sound.
Royal had four short corners at a stretch before the final whistle and could not penetrate the solid Thomian defence.
The Thomian team was coached by BL Perera and Bandara Susiripala as master in charge.
Before the start of the historic game the players of both Royal and S. Thomas’ came together in interaction for a ceremonial photograph but the latter had more reason to celebrate in the end.
