All Island Schools Football Championship - Prison Grounds Anuradhapura - 11/09/2016 De Mazenod College captain Sudan Manitha collects the U17 Challenge Shield.
De Mazenod College, Kandana and St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna emerged as Champions in the U17 and U15 age groups respectively at the All Island National School Games Football Championship 2016 which was concluded in Anuradhapura.
U17 Championship
The U17 tournament took place with the participation of 27 teams from 9 provinces and was held at Prison Grounds, Anuradhapura and Signal Corps. Grounds, Anuradhapura for 3 days.
A re-enactment of the Western Province final ensued, as De Mazenod College took on Hameed Al Husseinie College in the final of the U17 category in the match held at Prison Grounds, Anuradhapura.
De Mazenod College, coming in as the Runners Up of Western Province reached the finals defeating Berrewaerts College, Kandy , Dharmadutha College, Badulla , Manipay Hindu College, Jaffna and Kinniya Central College scoring a total of 10 goals along the way.
Hameed Al Husseinie College, champions of Western Province, defeated Fordyce Tamil Vidyalaya, St. Joseph’s College, Trincomalee and St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna on their way to the final.
Both teams, coming in with the hope of going home with the championship, held each other’s end throughout the game and made it to the final whistle with a 0 – 0 score-line.
Four straight shots beat the Hameedian keeper and two magnificent saves by the Mazenodian goalkeeper Deneth Theekshana in the penalty shootout saw De Mazenod walking away with the trophy, to the delight of the boys from Kandana ending an 11 year old drought.
Much to the disgust of all winning teams, the tawdry and cheap attitude of the organizers was once again displayed when presenting the championship trophies. All winning teams were presented with a shield with loosely hanging parts which the organizers had not even bothered to properly clean.
St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna won the 3rd place defeating Kinniya Central College 3 goals to 1 in the match held at Signal Corps Grounds, Anuradhapura.
Speaking to ThePapare.com an official of St. Patrick’s College said;
“Yesterday (10) we finished the semi-final match at 5.00 pm at the Signal Corps. Ground. The organizers told us to then head to the Prison Ground to play the 3rd place match against De Mazenod by 5.30 or we will be given a walkover. How did they expect us to reach the Prison Ground within half an hour? We have come here with the team on three-wheelers. Also our players had played throughout the day and they were very tired. It took a lot of effort to explain to them our situation and postpone the match to today (11). They finally agreed to postpone the match and told us to be at the Prison Ground by 7.30 am. We came at 7.30 am and its 11.30 am now. Now they are telling us to head over to Signal Corps Ground to play the match. Our Zonal level matches are organized better than this.”
De Mazenod College had just finished their quarter final match at 5.00 pm on the 10th and did not play the semi-final until the next day. How the organizers assumed that St. Patrick’s would be able to play De Mazenod for the 3rd place within half an hour is a question worth being asked.
Round 1
| Al Adhan MV, Badulla | 0 | 1 | Al Hira MV, Nattandiya |
| Jinaraja MV, Singhapitiya | 3 | 0 | Royal College, Polonnaruwa |
| Zahira College, Mawanella | 0 | 1 | Olcott MV, Galle |
| St.Sebastian’s College, Katuneriya | 1 | 0 | Seevali MMV, Ratnapura |
| Mahagaswewa MV, Galenbindunuwewa | 0 | 2 | Fordyce Tamil Vidyalaya, Dik Oya |
| Kirinda Muslim College, Hambantota | 4 | 6 | Manipay Hindu College, Jaffna |
| De Mazenod College, Kandana | 3 | 0 | Berrewaerst College, Kandy |
| Sivananda College, Batticaloa | 1 | 4 | Dharmadutha College, Badulla |
| Kinniya Central College | 3 | 1 | President’s College, Rajagiriya |
| Zahira College, Gintota | 2 | 1 | Jaffna Central College |
Round 2
| St.Patrick’s College, Jaffna | 5 | 1 | Al Hira MV, Nattandiya |
| Jinaraja MV, Singhapitiya | 1 | 0 | Olcott MV, Galle |
| St.Joseph’s College, Trincomalee | 1 | 0 | St.Sebastian’s College, Katuneriya |
| Fordyce Tamil Vidyalaya, Dik Oya | 1 | 3 | Hameed Al Husseinie College |
| St.Joseph’s College, Anuradhapura | 0 | 3 | Manipay Hindu College, Jaffna |
| De Mazenod College, Kandana | 5 | 2 | Dharmadutha College, Badulla |
| Baduriya MMV, Mawanella | 1 | 3 | Kinniya Central College |
| Zahira College, Gintota | 0 | 1 | St.Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa |
Quarter Finals
| St.Patrick’s College, Jaffna | 3 | 0 | Jinaraja MV, Singhapitiya |
| St.Joseph’s College, Trincomalee | 0 | 1 | Hameed Al Husseinie College |
| Manipay Hindu College, Jaffna | 0 | 1 | De Mazenod College, Kandana |
| Kinniya Central College | 1 | 0 | St.Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa |
Semi Finals
| St.Patrick’s College, Jaffna | 0 | 1 | Hameed Al Husseinie College |
| Kinniya Central College | 0 | 1 | De Mazenod College, Kandana |
3rd Place
| St.Patrick’s College, Jaffna | 3 | 1 | Kinniya Central College |
Finals
| De Mazenod College Kandana | 0(4) | 0(2) | Hameed Al Husseinie College |
U15 Championship
The U15 tournament which took place at the Public Sports Complex, Anuradhapura saw Northern Province teams walk away with all the prizes.
A Battle of the Saints took place in the finals where St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna played St. Henry’s College, Ilavalai for the championship. A tough match was played out and the lone goal from a penalty saw St. Patrick’s College becoming champions of the Under 15 category.
St. Lucia’s College, Mannar won the 3rd place play-off by edging out St. Joseph’s College, Anuradhapura 2 goals to 1.
