The 10th annual hockey encounter for the Dudley De Silva trophy between Royal College and Wesley College was played today. The Chief Guest at the event was Asela Dilivera.
This year Royal College was captained by Pasindu Charuka Senarath while Wesley College was led by Taariq Jurampathy. Hosted by the Royalists this year, the match took place at the Reid Avenue Astro Turf. The 1st XI game started off with lot of excitement.
Royal College took a brilliant start in the game. They proceed to steer the momentum in the first half. Working the ball well amongst the forward line, they penetrated the opponent’s ‘D’ on countless occasions. Sajaad Irshad was the key player on the offense, creating plays for the forwards to take the shots at the goal. However, boys of Wesley hardly gained any access to the Royal ‘D’ in the first half. Sajaad Irshad of Royal College scored two goals consecutively in the first half and this led RC take the lead against Wesley.
As the second half began Sachithra Malshan of Royal College scored another goal. Even though Wesley players were more settled in this half they could not implement successful offensive strategies. Royal was awarded more than 10 penalty corners but they didnt capitalize on these opportunities, lacking a certain finish in their well-executed attacking strategies. However, in the final few minutes RC Captain Pasindu Charuka was successful in his attempt and this gave Royal College the win by 4-0.
Sajad Irshad of Royal College was adjudged the best player of the encounter.
