Thomians mount devastating title challenge
View(s):
Vice Captain Aaqiil Zuhair
The 29th edition of the Dr. R.L. Hayman Trophy should ideally have entered its third decade but for the two years lost by school sports to Covid. However, the absence only mounted the anticipation as Royal College and S. Thomas’ College met at the Sugathadasa Stadium Pool for what promised to be an entertaining water polo encounter for the much coveted trophy. The heavy rains over the two weekends could not keep the crowds away, and some enthralling skills rewarded their commitment.
S. Thomas’ were desperate for a win after conceding ‘the Hayman’ to their cross town rivals for three consecutive years. Royal were keen to underscore their dominance in the sport by winning for a fourth year and boasted – on paper at least – the more experienced side.
When the Royalists opened scoring in the first quarter of the first leg, the Thomian supporters thought it was going to be more of the same. However, the excellent opening goal smashed into Gurusinghe’s net with a supreme backhanded flick by Yamith Jayakody. The nerves clearly got to the Thomians who stuttered before clawing their way back through skipper Dhiren Dias who opened scoring for the dark caps. Royal hit back through their captain Umindu Katugampola and Banuka Jayatileka while Dias netted his second and Aaqiil Zuhair his first for S. Thomas’ in a tense first quarter which finished 3-3.
The first quarter saw some slick passing by the Thomians which tired out the Royalists, who struggled to remain even on the scoreboard. The floodgates opened in the second quarter with the superior fitness of the Thomians playing a huge role. They were able to get numbers back in defence, and force Royal into uncertain passes with an early foul in possession. These passes were easily intercepted and S. Thomas’ won the quarter 8-2 with Aaqil Zuhair scoring four and Yumal Bollegala’s two being responsible for most of the carnage. Dias scored his third and defensive lynchpin and twin brother of Seevali, Migara Gurusinghe, scored his first goal as the Thomians went into the break 11-5 up and Royal staring down the barrel.
S. Thomas' water polo team
The second half was blitzkrieg with the Thomians peppering Royal’s goal for a further 12 goals as Royal’s Yamith Jayakody tried bravely but his excellent backhanded effort could not stop the pair of destroyers in the form of vice captain Aaqil Zuhair and Yumal Bollegala, who finished off some seamless fast breaks and showed their versatility with some long range shooting as well.
Zuhair was the highest scorer with eight goals on day that saw some spectacular shooting even from the losers. The Thomians seemed more cohesive and were able to form the umbrella offence more often, forcing Royal into conceding exclusions, whereas Royal were unable to string together enough passes on their own possessions. Ultimately though, it was Thomians’ fitness and unselfish passing that gave them a near unassailable 23-10 lead in the first leg.
Despite giving up a league, a few teams over the last many years had come back to win the Hayman. However, a 13-goal deficit was always going to be difficult for Royal although they stormed into the lead through Mihin Wanigasekera in the second leg a week later. This encounter was far closer with Royal learning from their mistakes and S. Thomas’ looking a little tired after their efforts the previous week to end the first quarter 1-0.
However, the tiredness was soon put to rest as the Thomians recovered with their skipper finally scoring after his team had squandered good chances previously. At the end of a closely contested quarter where Royal looked a completely different team from the week before, the score was tied at 3 apiece.
S. Thomas’ had chosen to inject some fresh blood into their line up to ensure continuity, but the coaches decided a stalemate was not an option and soon got the ball into the hands of Bollegala and Zuhair, who had combined so effectively the week before but had seen precious little of the ball till the third quarter. Yumal Bollegala scored his hat trick for the game, while Zuhair opened his account and completed his hat trick in the third quarter.
Thomian First XV captain Chariya Kurkulasuriya scored from the centre forward position more often than the first leg and Aidan Tissera was outstanding in defense and feeding the ball to his prime goal scorers. For Royal, young players Wanigasekera and Yasandu de Silva will give them heart for the future while skipper Katugampola can be proud of some outstanding shooting.
The 29th encounter yielded a host of records with the winning margin of 20 goals over the aggregate 37-17 being the highest in the fixture. The 37 goals scored by S. Thomas’ was the highest by any team. In the individual category Thomian deputy skipper Aaqil Zuhair scored 12 goals eclipsing the record jointly held by Thomian Jeewaka Perara and Bilal Hassen of Royal, who scored 11 goals over the two fixtures. Yumal Bollegala also had an outstanding encounter scoring nine goals, The 29th encounter will be remembered for some outstanding sharp shooting from both teams and promises much for the future.