Football would be the last of sports that would send the blood rushing among the Thomians and the Trinitians but when it is against each other it is played with high intensity and with an aura of reverence second only to any Royal – Thomian.
These two sides will meet for the 5th time in this still-growing encounter on the 20th of October at the S.Thomas’ College Big Club Grounds, with the hosts yet to register a win.
The S.Thomas’ v Trinity Football Encounter was started in 2010, with S.Thomas’ hosting the meeting. In 2011 Trinity won a thrilling 3-2 match and again won last year with a 1-0 score.
Up for the challenge
“Well, we’ve obviously been preparing well for this game since it is a very special contest for all the players involved given the history of the two schools. The team has been working very hard hoping to be on the winning side, come Monday the 20th.” a confident Trinity College captain and last year’s winning goal scorer Saadik Niyas told ThePapare.com.
For S.Thomas’ College it has been an up and down preparation campaign but according to Captain Avantha Elapata they are ready to win it for the first time.
“Preparations have been hectic for us. The weather hasn’t been too kind to us as well but what we drilled on early season will come in handy.” Elapata stated.
Season so far
It has been “an ok season for us” according to Avantha. Thomians defeated Lyceum College in the Divisional finals and in the Zonals they beat Christ King College in the semi final but were unable to attend the final.
“The Kotmale Chox U19 schools championship wasn’t that good we could only notch up one win in the group stage.” lamented Avantha.
In the Kotmale Chox Championship the Thomians went down with a late goal by Royal, while Maris Stella College and St.Mary’s College defeated them 5-0 and 4-2 respectively. However they managed to bounce back with a 4-0 win over Royal Institute in the final group stage match.
“Winning the Futsal tournament conducted by the Football Federation was the highlight for us. We defeated CIS ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams and St.Joseph’s in the group stage. Beat Ananda College on penalties to book a place in the final. In the final defeated St.Benedict’s on penalties as well.” He further added.
Much like the Thomians the Trinitians haven’t had the best of seasons participating in just one tournament.
“Actually this time the season started for us very late. All the fixtures started to pile up in the months of October, November and December. So we’ve not played much.
“We featured in the provincial tournament which we had to unfortunately bow out in the quarter finals and we played a few warm up games against Kingswood which we lost and against St.Anthony’s which we won.” Saadik the Trinity skipper commented to ThePapare.com
Relatively young sides
Both sides have lost players in all key departments, thus pitting an inexperienced outfit this season.
S.Thomas’ are without their captain Serag Ousmand, vice-captain Alan Dassanayake and Ayesh Fernando.
Trinity are also minus their former captain Mohammed Shukry, goalkeeper Chamodh Dissanyake, midfielder Shalinda Weerasinghe and forward Sachithra Amarawansa.
“We’ve lost a bulk of senior players from last season that’s been with the first 11 team for a long period of time now.
“As a result we’ve seen in plenty of talented youngsters break in to the first team with massive potential.” Saadik talked about his new stars Dinura Ediriweera, Nuwan Jayalath and Ravishka Herath.
The Trinitians will look to Rifky Salahudeen to organize the defense and keep a lid on the Thomian attack while captain Saadik and Ediriweera pose a threat on the opposite end.
“We had a lot of seniors and very little juniors so this year it is a young side. However they have trained really hard and filled the void made by the exit of the seniors.” Thomian captain added.
A lot would depend on Avantha Elapata, Akhil Fernando and Deshan Gonawela in defense, mid field and attack respectively while Akhil’s ability to control the pace of the game is a treat to watch.
Former National players on opposite ends
This encounter will see former Sri Lanka national players plying to outwit each other in the coaching department.
S.Thomas’ College will be coached by former national captain Mr.R.M.U.Mahindapala who represented Sri Lanka’s golden era of football and has also coached the Bangladesh and Maldives national sides as well.
“He has been a great influence. He has revolutionized practices at College this season. In that way we have improved immensely.” Elapata heaped praise on their coach.
Trinity’s coach Mr.Wijewardena an AFC – B license coach was a former Sri Lankan Police player who has also toured with the Sri Lankan national team on many occasions.
“His input is always about playing football in the way to get the right result. Therefore his tactics change from game to game. Sometimes it’s not very pleasing on the eye but it gets us the winning result which matters the most.” Saadik added about their result driven coach.
“Since the Thomians have never beaten us in the fixture we will be extra motivated to keep up the undefeated streak this year.” Looking to keep the Trophy in the hill capital a confident Saadik Niyas finally stated.
Trinity Squad
1. A.S.Niyaz (Captain)
2. M.S.Rifky
3. M.M.Mahir
4. G.Kishoban
5. M.H.Rizky
6. D.Bowathdeniya
7. V.Mediwake
8. N.Pathirana
9. W.Kodithuwakku
10. G.S.Liyanage
11. H.M.Pitawala
12. G.D.Pethiyagoda
13. E.M.A.Edirisingha
14. D.Dias
15. R.Prishanth
16. A.Fernando
17. D.T.Ediriweera
18. N.D.Jayalath
19. R.U.B.Herath
20. Y.S.A.Wijewardana
21. Rishen Madena
S.Thomas’ Squad
1. Avantha Elapata
2. Devshan Jayawardena
3. Hadhi Jawahir
4. Qaaeed Huzair
5. Yohan Mendis
6. Deshan Gonawela
7. Akhil Fernando
8. Dharmalingam Abikrishna
9. Dinura Gunawardena
10. Seshan Mathangaweera
11. Dion Dias
12. K. D. Batawala
13. D. P. Abeysuriya
14. B. Gowrienanthan
15. N. Ahmed
16. R. Agarshan
17. J. R. Selvakumar
18. S. Udumalagala
19. A. R. Samarasinghe
20. M. Lindon
21. G. M. Joseph
