In a bitterly contested water polo battle, S. Thomas’ College held on to their first leg lead over Royal College by earning a deserved 1-1 draw, to claim the Dr. R.L Hayman trophy at the Police Pool yesterday.
K. Munasinghe of S. Thomas’ College reaches out to receive a pass in the Royal half. Pic by Sanka Vidanagama |
During the first leg S. Thomas’ walked away with a slender 7-6 lead over their traditional rivals and as the second leg began the fact that the match was evenly balanced was attested to by the tense atmosphere that pervaded.
Both teams went at each other from the outset of the encounter, employing fluent passing and smart swims to create space for themselves. However each side’s defence also reacted with equal skill in thwarting many of these onslaughts.
However as the opening quarter progressed it was Royal who was having the slight advantage in both possession and shots on goal. They nearly converted one of these chances when they rattled the bars of the goal mouth, before the Thomian goalie managed to recover and claw the ball away to safety.
This served as a wake up call for S. Thomas’ and they immediately launched into a blistering counter attack which led to the ball falling into the hands of Chandana Perera. In a swift and forceful second, Perera propelled himself over his defender and threw down a missile which handed the Thomains the lead at the end of the first quarter.
As the second quarter forged on play became more open and Royal finally capitalized on their umpteenth chance. The ball bobbed around in the Royal half before it was tossed forward and eventually parried to Shan Lakshitha. He wasted no time in depositing the ball in the back of the net with powerful precision.
The goal served as a catalyst to spur the Royalists on throughout the remaining quarters, but S. Thomas’ refused to back down or play defensively and they continued fighting until the final whistle blew. |
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