23rd Annual Royal-Thomian soccer encounter to be powered by MAZDA – Colonial Motors Ceylon

The Blue Derby – 23rd Annual Soccer Encounter between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia will be held on Friday, 4 November from 3.30 p.m. onwards at the CR&FC grounds.

Defending champions Royal will take on a balanced Thomian team.

2015 saw Colonial Motors Ceylon Ltd. decide to sponsor football equipment and provide special training to the members of the Royal College football team in its capacity as the team’s main sponsor. The immense support rendered by Colonial Motors Ceylon Ltd. has stood the Royal team in good stead and in return the team has shown excellent results.

Seated (from left): S. Devabandu (MIC), M.A.M Riyaz (Senior Games Master), S. Liynanagunawardana (Senior Games Master), Chathura Avishka (Captain), B.A. Abeyratne (Principal), Naveen Jude (Vice Captain), P. Wickremasinghe (Vice Principal), Ashoka Ravindra (Head Coach), Priyantha (Asst. MIC), Standing first row (from left): Sakun Divyanga, R. Pradeepan, Suhaib Muzammil, Fayard Farmis, Afridi Hussain (Secretary), Athiff Munas, Humaid Hilmy, Kolitha Hansajith, Sithum Vidanagamage and Harindu Rangajith, Standing second row (from left): Ashraff Ali, Mohamed Fazloon, Sulaiman Nagim, Aaqil Yoosuf, Haathim Munas, Ahamed Musthaq, Shakeeb Yahiya, Azmaan Anver, M. Infaaz and Ranjan Gogulandas  

S. Thomas’ College, Seated (from left): Sunil Shantha (Coach), S.Y. Jayasuriya (Secretary), D. Dias (Captain), Revd. N.M.P Billimoria (Warden), S. Mathangaweera (Vice Captain) and Kapila De Silva (MIC), Standing first row (from left): J. De Fonseka, J.S. De Silva, D.S. Ebenezer, M. Waas, J. Selvakumar, K. De Silva, M. Jawahir, M. Azeez, V. Peiris, R. Vengadesh and S. De Alwis,

Standing second row (from left): M. Hameem, M.Ebenezer, J. Kanagasundaram, D. Jansen, R. Nadev, I. Raji, E. Abimanyu, A. Laffar and T. Eriyagama, Standing third row (from left): A. Ranatunga, T. Wijayananda, D. Marso, T. Jayasekara, G. Gautham, D. Gonawela and N. Wimaladas 

Both schools have performed creditably this season and 2015/16 has been excellent for the Royal College football team compared to previous years, while the team’s synergy, dedication and commitment has brought wonderful results. 

Credit for this phenomenal success goes to the hardworking team, coaches, Master-in-Charge, Football Advisory and Management Committee and main sponsors Colonial Motors Ceylon Ltd., who played a key role in the positive outcome.

The Royal College football team got promoted to Division 1 this year and they have performed extremely well in recent tournaments, including the Zahira Soccer 7s where they emerged Plate champions.   

Soccer was played from the inception of both Royal and S. Thomas’ but was given up in the early 1950s, with its place taken up by rugby. However, the sport was reintroduced in the ’80s. As the 23rd Royal-Thomian soccer encounter gets underway after much preparation, the game has gained great popularity amongst students of both schools and will no doubt bring hope of evolving into a glamorous social event in subsequent years.

Both teams have practiced hard for this encounter and are determined to approach the game in a very positive manner. With Royal leading the scorecard, having won 20 out of 23 previous encounters, they would like to extend their dominance with another victory. However, the Thomians will be looking to do their utmost to up their own trophy tally.

The Royal College Football Advisory and Management Committee said it was delighted to organise this year’s encounter.

The event’s Chief Guest will be Colonial Motors Ceylon Ltd. Managing Director Mohan Ratnayake while its Guest of Honour will be Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Chairman Nanda Muruttettuwegama.