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| Friday, 25 July 2003 |
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Royal face tough task against Thomians tomorrow by Chris Dhambarage Royal College will face their ultimate challenge in their attempt to win the Milo Schools 'A' division League title when they confront traditional rivals S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia in their annual inter-school rugby encounter at Havelock Park tomorrow. Royal have enjoyed another splendid season and are just one step away from winning the title. They have all the reasons to feel confident having headed the Milo Schools 'A' division league tournament points table with four good victories to their credit. All they need is to win their final league match which will put them further up in the points table ahead of the closest rivals Wesley College. This game is also an important one for both teams because the match is played for the Michael Gunaratne Trophy. Royal are hoping for a hat-trick of victories having won last years encounter by 38 points to 3 under the captaincy of Zulki Hamid. Royal began the season on a promising note and they have rallied around through their consistency but more importantly have clicked well as a team. The only setback was their shock defeat at the hands of Wesley College but have recovered well and have bounced back into recognition. Last week too they displayed their real fighting qualities when they came from behind to beat their traditional rivals Trinity College Kandy by 13 points 11 in the first leg of the 59th Bradby Shield encounter at the Bogambara Stadium. They also had the credit of defeating the formidable Isipatana outfit (19-8), St. Anthony's College (10-7), St. Peter's College (8-6) and Dharmaraja College Kandy (45-0) quite convincingly. The Thomians in contrast are hoping to redeem some of their lost prestige having experienced mixed fortunes in the Milo Schools 'A' division League tournament. But they have proved that on their day they could beat any side and the prospects of a close contest is on the cards. S. Thomas' College started off on a poor note losing to Ananda College in their very first outing. They picked up their form and also made their presence felt by overcoming the defending champions St. Peter's College quite convincingly by 15-6. But their best effort came a couple of week's ago when they toppled the high riding St. Anthony's outfit 24-0 with a spectacular performance up in Nittawela. The Michael Gunaratne Trophy was first offered for competition between the two schools in 1962 and since then 40 matches have been played in the series with Royal winning 19 and S. Thomas College 16 with five games ending in draws. The match was not played in 1979 due to a dispute between the two schools regarding the dates of the match. |
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