Bad light interrupted play but not before Anthony Dickson’s brace had given Royal a 2-0 lead in the 20th Annual Royal-Thomian Football Encounter.
The 1st XI match started half an hour late at the scenic Big Club Grounds at S.Thomas’ College. Both sides looked edgy in the initial minutes but Royal with a more composed midfield settled down and started to dictate terms.
For S.Thomas’ Ayesh Fernando was preferred in place of playmaking midfielder Areeb Suhail and it was evident as Royal exploited the weakness and dominated the midfield led by their Captain Pumudu Munasinghe.
The Thomians were employing a high defensive line and had their tactic benefitting them early on, catching the Royal strikers offside on a few occasions. They were living dangerously with that tactic and it backfired halfway through the first half as Royal’s Anthony Dickson skipped past his marker to collect the ball and chip it over the diving keeper, Sarindha Silva to give Royal a 1-0 lead.
Left back Sanjaya Abeysinghe was at fault for the opening goal as his poor positioning gave Dickson ample space to attack on the right wing and keeper Silva had no option but to rush on to the ball to save it but to no avail. An enlivened Royal then created a few opportunities but Sarindha Silva made some good saves.
In the second half normal duties were resumed as S.Thomas’ had no answer to Royal’s attacks and were lucky not to concede a few goals. Dickson was in the thick of things as his pace created nightmares for Abeysinghe. On the hour mark Abeysinghe’s miscommunication led him to clatter into the on rushing keeper Silva and let Dickson through to score into an empty net.
Thomian strikers in Alan Dasanayaka and Yannich Captain were kept quiet throughout the match by the Royal defense, especially by Balagajan who had an excellent match. Ayesh Fernando was confined into being a mere spectator and had no opportunity to display his deadly left foot.
The light was deteriorating rapidly and with 15 minutes left the Referee suspended play leaving the decision to the match committee. The match committee ruled the decision in favour of Royal College.
In the U17 match S.Thomas’ College won on penalties after the match ended scoreless. For the Thomians Dion Dias and Deshan Gonawela had an excellent match with the latter creating a couple of opportunities but was unlucky not to have converted.
The U15 match was also won by S.Thomas’ on penalties.
