It’s been a while, but it was good to watch a Thomian water polo team that were ‘up for it’ against their arch rivals Royal. Since 2005 Royal have maintained a near vice like grip on the coveted trophy after STC’s 13 year unbeaten run. Therefore, the pressure was certainly on Dheelaka Weeraratne’s Thomians to perform.
This pressure was intensified by the Thomians giving Royal a walkover the last time the teams were supposed to meet a few weeks ago at the National Age Group Championships. Visakha also gave Bishop’s College a walkover in the final of the same tournament amidst much controversy.
The Royal crowd seemed more confident than its team. And why not, after tasting success in the last few years, and with their cheeky banner of ‘Walkover Maybe?’, the cheers of R-o-y-a-l, drowned out any sporadic cheers of the comparatively sparse Thomian crowd, whose defeatist attitude was able to muster up a feeble T-h-o-r-a towards the end of the final quarter. Perhaps this is diffidence born of a losing streak, but Weeraratne’s warriors deserved more than that on the day.
Royal started better, with Jaffer winning the first swim ball against Sourjah and Chandula Fernando registering the first goal. S. Thomas’ were keen to play a high tempo game and insisted on fast breaks in the first quarter. Goalkeeper Kosala Wijewardena was off target with a few long passes and some good breaks could not be converted as a result. Nevertheless, with Royal threatening at the attacking end mainly through Chandula Fernando, it was Ashane Francis who equalised with a stunning finish that Walid Uwais in the Royal goal knew little about. It was a slap up and flick finish which is difficult to describe but was excellent to watch. The Thomians seemed to settle down after that first goal at the end of the first quarter and approached the second very differently. Royal would have been kicking themselves not to have capitalised from Sourjah’s exclusion late on in this quarter.
Both teams seemed to spar a little more in the second quarter, but the Thomians made a conscious effort to bring their smiling giant Sachitha Jayatilleka into the game. The big centre forward seemed to have got his marker, Royal captain Akila Weerasinghe, done for physicality. And with the referees blowing an excellent game, Jayatilleka forced a few exclusions from which STC profited. The first was a well worked cross pool pass from Kahandawala to Munasinghe who finished with a tight angle, and Munasinghe scored again from the wing to give the Thomians a cushion. However, tired arms and legs allowed Royal to get one back through Wasalage to give the hosts a slender 3-2 lead at half time. Isuru Kahandawala was the unsung hero of the quarter, finding some excellent passes into the prop and also tracking back on defence.
Royal seemed not to have too many attacking options. Apart from one long shot from Akila Weerasinghe, Wijewardena was not tested in goal and the Thomian defence played smart instead of hard.
The third quarter saw Sourjah win his first swim ball of the match and from the first possession Sachitha Jayatilleka who had been the fulcrum of the Thomian attacking game scored a strong centre forward’s goal to re-establish the two goal cushion. However, Royal’s left hander Aasalarachchi was beginning to threaten at the opposite end, and Sourjah was tiring. Some good shots from the Royalists went wide thanks to the heroics of Kosala Wijewardena, who stayed big in goal and completely cut out the angles for the Royal shooters. The Thomian custodian made some excellent saves, but couldn’t keep out a short range Aasalarachci effort and Chandula Fernando’s penalty late on in the quarter. Despite dominating much of the play, the Thomians would have been disappointed to go into the final quarter at 4 all.
Captain Weeraratne, along with Kahandawala, had a huge work rate, and it was their commitment in attack and defence which was the difference between the two sides. Kahandawala found some great passes and tracked back responsibly while Weeraratne put his opposite number under a lot of pressure taking up good positions in attack. Royal clearly missed the pace of last year with the absence of Kanitha Munasinghe and seemed to intent on working the ball into the goal rather than finding the net at any cost.
Kahandawala suffered from cramp after a monumental effort, but re entered the fray, but only after he’d seen his captain score a good long range goal and Keshan Munasinghe finish a well worked power play after taking it to the by line and giving Munasinghe a pass he finished with aplomb for his hat trick. The Thomians were working the ball around deftly moving Uwais around in the Royal goal. He had no chance with the finish. Although the elder Uwais brother managed to keep the dangerous Jayatilleka quiet in the fourth quarter, Royal were finding it difficult to penetrate at the other end. A second penalty for Fernando gave him his hat trick, to reduce the deficit but skipper Weerasinghe’s questionable close range technique prevented him from scoring an important goal as he shot weakly at the excellent Thomian goalie. His opposite number netted at the other end and Shakya Gunatilaka scored a deflected goal off the bench to give the Thomians a 7-5 win at full time.
The refereeing was consistent and prevented the game turning excessively physical. This made for some good water polo and both teams did their best to play positively, for which both coaches Zainudeen for Thora and Prelis for Royal, deserve accolades. There is still a hesitance to shoot from outside, from both teams, although the Thomians seemed to get more confident to do so as the game progressed. Kahandawala’s work rate and astute passing, together with Francis’ brilliant goal, Munasinghe’s hat trick and Wijewardena’s shot stopping made it an excellent team effort from the Thomians.
Royal on the other hand seemed to look almost exclusively for Fernando or Aasalarachchi to do the scoring. Although both obliged, there was not enough diversity in attack to keep the Thomian defence guessing. The most regrettable thing for Royal though, is their conversion rate of power plays. They failed to capitalise on the extra man even though they had more than four occasions to do so with Sourjah being forced to commit three major fouls. With the luxury of an aggressive left hander, Royal may change tactics for the second leg and adopt the two centre forwards approach. They would also be well advised to go to the bench more regularly during the game.
Fitness will be a telling factor in the second encounter, and whoever manages training better in this week will reap the benefit in the second leg. For the Thomians, it should be more of the same. Although the Thoras squandered a two goal lead in 2012, the Royal team of that year was clearly superior and had a bad game. That is not the situation this time, as this Thomian team looks like it is capable of consolidating this lead. However, they should look to build and score early to take the wind out of Royal’s sails. The change in approach at the start of the second quarter won the game for them, and the Royalists inability to deal with Jayatilleka effectively made the difference. To keep doing what works for four more quarters is a test of discipline in itself and if the Thomians manage to stay calm and not try too hard or do anything different, they may take the Hayman back to Mount Lavinia this Saturday.
