St. Joseph’s take on St. Peter’s in football

The 26th annual Joe-Pete soccer encounter will take place on 9 December at the St. Peter’s College grounds. 

The junior matches will commence from 1.30 p.m. onwards and the key highlight, the Under-19 match, will take place at 3.30 p.m.

Looking into the history of the traditional Joe-Pete soccer encounters, this thrilling big match was brought to life in 1989. The encounter has been played for over 25 years with the Peterites coming on top with 13 wins and the Josephians recording 11, with one match ending in a no-decision. 

The record for the most number of goals scored during an encounter is held by the Josephians in 1992 under the captaincy of Jerome Ambrose where the school from Darley Road won the match 5-0. The school by Galle Road has never won the encounter when the match has gone to penalties.

Looking into the 2016 season, both teams have had their ups and downs with St. Joseph’s College missing the opportunity to get into the Kothmale tournament’s quarterfinals by a very small margin. However, they have made amends by entering the Under-19 ‘A’ Division tournament’s semifinals scheduled to be played this month. The Peterite team includes three brilliant Sri Lanka players in Mohommad Shabeer, Ishan Danusha and Shehan Liyanapathirana.

The Josephian Captain is Mayuraka Perera and the Peterite Captain is Johan Wickramasinghe. The big match this year is bound to be a thrilling encounter between two equally well-balanced sides with both teams hoping to bring the Rev. Fr. Stanley Abeysekara and Rev. Fr. Joe Wickramasinghe Challenge Trophy back to their respective schools.