The Under-19 Schools’ Hockey Nationals was held in Colombo from the 29th of June to the 01st of July with Kandy blues crowned as the girls’ champions while the Colombo Reds team won the boys’ championship. Find out how the action unfolded in the knockout stages.
Quarterfinals
The quarter finals of both the Boys’ and Girls’ U19 Hockey Nationals took place in Colombo on the second day of the tournament. While all the Boys’ games were played at the Astro turf, the first two quarterfinals for Girls were worked off at the Royal College grounds.
Kandy Blues Girls’ dominated proceedings over a helpless Gampaha team and were the first to book themselves a semifinal spot winning 5-0. Next Kandy Whites took on Kalutara in what turned out to be the game of the day, with both teams battling it out for the second spot on offer but were at a stalemate 0-0 at fulltime. Kalutara held their nerves in the penalty shootout to win 2-1 eliminating the Kandy Whites from the tournament. Colombo Reds beat Colombo Blues 2-1 and Matale Golds edged out Matale Maroons 2-0 in the other two quarters.
In the Boys quarter finals a valiant Galle outfit that drew with the tournament favorites Colombo Reds on the first day toppled Kandy Blues in a hard fought game 2-1. Puttalam D H C beat a fighting Gampaha outfit 1-0 to book their place in the semis.
It was unfortunate that both the Colombo and Matale boys had the exact same draw as their female counterparts which saw two teams from the same city going at each other. Colombo Reds beat the Blues 3-0 while Matale Golds managed the same score lines against Matale Maroons.
Semifinals
The first Girls’ semifinal between Colombo Reds and Kalutara was worked off as the first game of the third and final day of the tournament. Colombo Reds managed to edge out the Kalutara team 2-1 and booked their place in the final. In the second semifinal in the Girls’ segment, the Matale Golds took on the Kandy Blues in a fast paced game with both teams playing end to end and attacking hockey. Vathsala Jayasinghe, the speedy center forward was the main architect of Kandys’ attack and was a treat to watch. Kandy Blues sent a stern warning to Colombo reds winning their semifinal 3-0.
Matale Golds (Boys )took on Galle in the first semifinal of the Boys’ category . Galle were energetic but could not match the quality that Matale had to offer and went down 4-0 to see Matale Golds securing a final berth.
Puttalam DHC comprising only of Wennapuwa St. Joseph Vaz players put on the best game of the day battling it out with the fancied Colombo Reds team. Colombo Reds scored first through a penalty corner early in the first half but the determined Puttalm team was not going to bow out without a fight. Puttalam Center forward Vishan Dumidhu was impressive in attack and showed fine control with the ball. He managed to deceive number of defenders with a silky touch and the lack of support players for this outstanding center forward was eminent. Colombo won the game 2-1 to confirm a pre-tournament favorites’ final.
Photo Album – Under 19 Boys & Girls Schools Hockey Nationals 2016 – Final Day
Finals
Having beaten Matale Golds (Girls) convincingly (3-0) the Kandy lasses were going to be a tough opponent for the fancied Colombo Reds. Reds started the game with positive intent camping in the opposition defense area in the first minutes of the half but couldn’t put the finishing touches. Vathsala Jayasinghe, Kandys’ playmaker, got into the act straight away through a counter attacking move from the first chance they got and was rewarded with a goal to go one up. Colombo reds managed to score via a penalty corner to equalize before half time to make it 1 all. With the change of sides Kandy Blues were ferocious in attack and looked to be the better conditioned team and ran in two more goals to win the final 3-1 beating the much fancied Colombo team.
It was a battle of two favorites in the Boys’ Final where Matale Golds took on Colombo Reds for top honours . Colombo was tested by a fiery Puttalam team in the semifinals (2-1) but Matale had it easy with Galle winning the game comprehensively (4-0). There was not much that held both these teams apart and this was clear to see at the finals where the two teams were neck and neck and played brilliant hockey. The first half ended with the scoreboard unchanged at 0-0. With the scores leveled both teams were in search of that winning goal and made some brilliant attacking plays. The Colombo lads were delighted when they scored a goal only to have Matale equalize soon after the restart. With the scores leveled once more Colombo Reds came out all guns blazing where they passed the ball around the turf with immaculate accuracy and managed a winner in the dying stages of the game to be crowned champions.
