Royal book date with Pathana for final knockout dance

By Shamseer Jaleel

Royal College, led by Number 8 Nikila Gunadheera, secured a meeting with Isipathana in the finals of the Schools Milo Knockout competition after they beat S. Thomas’ College by 24 points (3 goals, 1 penalty) to 15 points (1 goal, 1 try, 1 penalty) in their semi-final encounter played at the Royal Sports Complex yesterday.

At halftime both teams were level on 10 points apiece. The game was played at a good pace with Royal showing the greater initiative. The Thomians gave away possession far too often, giving the Royal outfit plenty of opportunities to attack. Meanwhile, Royal played to their potential in a performance that saw outstanding performances from their skipper Nikila Gunadeera and hooker Azmir Fajudeen. In their three quarter line, Askey and Shabith Feroze pieced together several threatening moves. Their scrum half Ashok Vijaykumar too was in good touch both in defence and attack, outfoxing the Thomians on several occasions. Royal did not allow the Thomians to use Navin Henakankanmge as much as they liked as he was a heavily marked man. Skipper Pandula De Silva led the forwards but they lost the ball in attack most of the time due to some powerful loose play from the Royal forwards. The match was refereed by Rohan Fernando.

The final will be worked off on 9 July and was initially slated to be held at the Royal Sports Complex. However, Isipathana has protested this, saying that playing on home turf gives Royal an unfair advantage. A decision on the venue will be taken today.