The valiant footballers from St. Joseph’s College are on the onset for a successful finish in their 2015 season with expectations of winning the ‘Joe-Pete’ football encounter.
The encounter is scheduled to kick off this Friday (23rd October) and top the ranks in the Kotmale Chox Under 19 schools championships.
Football has been in existence at St. Joseph’s for decades having played the sport from the very beginning of time. The game that gained momentum from the first encounter that was played against their archrivals, St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya. This encounter still continues to exist and St. Joseph’s College will be looking to retain their silverware for the sixth consecutive year.
Photo Album – St.Joseph’s College Football Squad (2015)
The calendar year 2015 has been comprehensive year full of ups and downs for the Blue & White lads having performed to a satisfactory level. The Josephians led by Asitha Fernando ended runners-up in the Zonal championships that was held early this year and thus qualified for the provincial tournament. The provincial run was a performance that took their spirits up ending up as semifinalists.
It is notable that the Josephians have been meeting the Peterties at regular occasions during the tournament. In the quarterfinal of the provincial tournament, St. Joseph’s College defeated St. Peter’s College to advance to the top four while the lads from Darley road had an adrenaline boost when they ousted Wesley College 4-0 in their annual friendly.
Third year player Asitha Fernando who takes the reigns as skipper will look to add a few more to his assists count in the upcoming weeks. Playing his final year for college, Asitha has been the key playmaker for the side creating almost all of the opportunities in which his team scored. Fernando will be looking for his two options in the wing, Prashanth Selvarajah and Clevin Perera to capitalize on the opportunities in order to make them goals.
The responsibility of the Josephian defense is vested on their deputy skipper Mayuraka Perera who will be making sure that his men leaves no gap for his opponents. He and senior-man Lakshan Wickramasinghe will be hold their grit in as center-backs for the team whilst in support will be Marshall Johnson and Kesaru Dakshita on the left and right.
It will all come down to the final man who will be the difference and St. Joseph’s College have many options in store for the position of goalkeeper. Shevanka Kurumbalapitiya will be their first choice in that regard but the youngster Rasanjaya Anuradha will also come in handy at situations.
Prolific coach Aruna Sampath who is well known in the arena for mentoring average teams to become top tier outfits is in charge of the Josephians and he believes that his team can bring out the marvel factor in the coming weeks.
Squad : Asitha Fernando (c), Mayuraka Perera (VC), Sachintha Maduranga, Vishodh De Alwis, Sachin Subasinghe, Shevanka Kurumbalapitiya, Amila Dananjaya, Jayson Fernando, Thishan Fernando, Rasanjaya Anuranga, Marshal Johnson, Esanda Dakshina, Kesaru Dakshitha, Lakshan Wickramasinghe, Harsh Prabath, Prasanth Slevarajah, Clevin Perera, Nicholas Markkirsten, Sidath Harshana, Asitha Sampath (Coach), Dumindu Sumedha (Physio)
