Was Bens 8-0 win against Joes a record?

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

When the Benedictine soccerites breached the Josephian defence and hit the net eight times in their schools soccer encounter at the SBC ground on Wednesday, the buzz among the soccer fans was whether this score of eight goals was a record in the history of this encounter.

This clash which is eagerly looked forward to by supporters of both schools was one of the games in a tournament conducted by the Old Benedictine Sports Club to celebrate their Golden Jubilee.

Anura de Silva, a former Bens and Sri Lanka captain told me that during his time, the Bens had beaten the Joes by a big margin of 6-nil. He reckons that if he is not wrong, the eight goals slammed in by the present Bens must be a record.

We hope those in the know would enlighten us on this. In the good old days this clash would attract a house full crowd, be it played in Kotahena or Maradana. But sadly there was not much of a crowd to lap up the excellent display put on show by the green, white and green school.

Coached by a former Benedictine stalwart Sharman Caldera, the Bens toyed with their opponents and completely dominated the game and like the announcer, ‘John’ Kennedy Machado said it rained goals.

To the credit of the Darley Road school it must be said that they played a determined game, worried the Bens no end, but had to finally concede defeat to a team that was far superior in every department.

The Joes won the hearts of the crowd because they were determined in defeat and played the game in the true spirit not worried whether they won or lost, but how they played the game.

Both schools have a rich tradition of having churned out several outstanding players who have later on gone on to sport national colours.

Names of Bens who come to mind are - the Nicholas brothers, Sampoornam and Nithi, ‘Bana’ Rajaratnam, Lawrence Fernando who kept goals for both schools, Vijaya Silva, Rex Sebastian, Denzil Walles, Lionel Dabare, Dr. Rodney Arambawela who was recently named in the 2009 Australia Day honours list announced by the Australian Government. Edward Jayawardena, Rozen Rodrigo, Bertipala Perera and Errol Anthony. The famous Joes are Peter Ranasinghe, Durand Perera, Saldin, Calistus Pillai and Terrence Kuruppu. Peter went on to captain the country.

The goal scorers for the Bens must be mentioned for posterity. They are Asela Tharanga 3, Dilan Victoria 2, S. Madusanka, Buddhika Sandaruwan and Ramesh Nalinda one each.

Bro. Granville Perera, Director of St. Benedict’s College was seen sporting a broad smile overjoyed with the Bens’ victory. Incidentally Bro. Granville is also the President of the Schools Football Association.

Incidentally, the high powered committee of the Old Bens SC who are conducting the sports festival to mark their golden jubilee are - Delly Fernando (President OBSC), Kennedy Machado, Emil Kronemberg, Errol Antony, Francis Assissi, Randolp Perera, Chandrasiri Damoderam, Jayantha Wanigasooriya, Srilal de Silva, Peter de Croos, Donald Fernando, Sharman Caldera, Sisira Kumara, Anura de Silva, Tyronne Perera and Marlon Fernandopulle.

The Bens have lined up basketball, hockey and billiards tournaments once the soccer tournament concludes.

A bash after the soccer finals on February 7 at the club house has been arranged.

Several Old Bens have contributed lavishly to make the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Old Bens Sports Club a success.