Royal and STC gave the spectators one the finest, if not the most thrilling Hayman encounter in the 23 year history as STC managed to retain the Dr. R. L. Hayman trophy for yet another year.
Royal came in to this game with nothing to lose after losing the 1st leg 7-5 and STC were more focused on maintain the 1st leg lead and take home the Dr. R. L. Hayman trophy once again back to Mount Lavinia. Royal who lost both the 1st leg in 2012 and 2013 editions came back to win the 2nd legs and in 2012 Royal grabbed a famous win by winning the 2nd leg and also becoming the 1st ever team in the history of Hayman encounter to register a comeback victory.
But the Thomains led by Deelaka Weerarathna proved they were the best team this year as they went neck to neck with the Royal attach and defense and always cut short the Royal lead and kept them under pressure allowing no chance to gain any momentum. Royal were always in the lead until the end of the 4th quarter but Thomains always cut short their lead and equalized the scores.
Royal began the scoring fiesta in one of the highest goal scoring encounter by a goal from Yasodha Wasalage in the 2nd minute. Thomain Ashane Fransis scored a stunning pump shot similar to his 1st leg opening but Royal immediately strike through another goal from Yasodha Wasalage to end the 1st quarter at 2-1 in favor of Royal.
In the 30th second of the 2nd quarter Thomain Captain Deelaka Weerarathna equalized the scores for STC. Royal’s captain Akila Weerasinghe scored once again for Royal to take Royal in to the lead 3-2 at the 2nd of the 2nd quarter.
Thomians gained the upper hand in the 3rd quarter with goal from Deelaka Weerarathna and Keshan Munasinghe but Royal’s Yahiya Jaffer scored in between the 2 Thomian goals of the quarter to end the quarter equal at 4-all.
Royal needed to score 3 more goals in the final quarter and keep the Thomains to a goal less quarter if Royal had to take the Hayman home or to score 3+ goals to every extra goal the Thomains score. As expected the final quarter was the best quarter of the entire encounter with both teams scoring 9 goals. Royal Chandula Fernando opened the scoring for Royal and took Royal in to the lead giving them hopes of another miracle come backbut it was cut short when Thomain captain Deelaka equalized the scores. With nothing to lose Royal kept on attacking and in form chandula scored once again for Royal to take the lead but this time Thomian Sachitra Gunathilake who was kept quiet for the entire game by Rifat Uwais of Royal scored. Royal’s Yasodha Wasalage then scored once again to take the lead by was cut short when their captain Deelaka scored another stunning goal. Thomian then took the momentum and scored 2 more goals from Ashane Fransis and Keshan Munasinghe to nail the coffin for Royal’s hope of retaining the Hayman. Royal then scored a final condolence goal by Chandula Fernando but it was too little too late to make any upset and when the final whistle blew the Thomain celebration began as they sealed the leg with a score of 9-8 and a final aggregate score of 16-13.
For STC, Captain Deelaka Weerarathna played one of his best ever games and this being at the Hayman 2nd leg under his leadership I’m sure he will rate this as his most memorable moment. Thomain Goal Keeper Koasala Wijewardena was once again superb in the goal which earned him the most valuable player award for the 2nd consecutive year. Keshan Munasinghe, Ashane Fransis and Aqueel Sourjah were leading the attacking and defense for STC.
For Royal, Rifat Uwais was brilliant on this defense in both legs which kept the strong Sachitra quite during the entire 2 legs and Chandula Fernando was on form but lack of support from other players did not help his cause. Yasodha Wasalage was the surprise package from Royal this year and scored some important goals for Royal to keep them in the game. Royal Captain Akila Weerasinghe too was on form during the encounter. Royal goal keeper Waleed Uwais kept away some good shots but lack of support from the defense let Thomains take away some easy goals.
To recap this year’s encounter, many would agree that this was the most thrilling encounter in the history of the Hayman and both team displayed some quality level of Water Polo. All credits should go to Zafar Zainudeen of STC and his co and Aloka Prelis of Royal and his co.
STC would be extremely happy with their victory as this is the 1st time after the 2005 victory that they have managed to retain the trophy for 2 consecutive years and also after 2 years they have won both the legs.
