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| Tuesday, 6 July 2004 |
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Sports | |
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Royal in resounding win over Wesley by Chris Dhambarage Royal College brought an end to Wesley's unbeaten record with a stupendous performance to take major honours in their Singer inter school under 19 'A' division league rugby tournament. Royal who are the defending champions also recorded their first win in the current inter schools rugby season and avenged their last years defeat against the same opposition at the same venue. Royal's success certainly had great significance because they went into this game at the back drop of some uncertainty having lost to the Antonians and after an exciting draw against Kingswood College Kandy. This time however Royal looked a completely different outfit as they outplayed the Wesleyites scoring three goals and in addition to converting a penalty. They seem to have studied their opponents quite well and exploited their weak points with a combination of power and science. The Wesleyites had built up a reputation this season of smashing the opposition within the first 20 minutes of play like they did against Isipatana. But Royal were equal to the task as they counter attacked with some beautiful moves from their forwards and the three quarters. The most outstanding effort of course came from their national cap Shehab Bahudeen who made his presence felt in both attack and defence. The dynamic full back was in tremendous form while forming the overlap quite regularly and always providing the back up support for their speedy three quarters. Royal made certain of their victory as they took a commanding 17 nil at half time. They were always in control of the game even though they managed to add only one more try in the second half. The Wesleyites never looked like making a come back and were somewhat demoralised after they were completely outclassed in the first half. This defeat will be a major setback for the Wesleyites who started the season as strong contenders to clinch the 'A' division league title. Ananda stun Isipatana Meanwhile Ananda delivered another stunning blow as they brought down Isipatana by eight points to five points in their fixture played at Longden Place. The Anandians seem to be enjoying a fantastic season and this was the second time that they had defeated a top school in the 'A' division league tournament. They also proved that their success over the Thomians was not a fluke but a genuine effort by overcoming the former 'A' division champions with a magnificent performance. The Anandians sealed the game by a close margin running down just a solitary try and also converting a penalty against their opponents single try. But their dominance was more than that as they enjoyed a major amount of possession in the set pieces and in the loose. Ananda would have certainly loved to win the game by a more convincing margin but nevertheless this was a historic moment having recorded their first ever win over Isipatana. The Anandians now could be considered as one of the favourites to win the 'A' division league title having registered their second straight victory in the tournament. They also jumped to the top of the points table and remain as the only unbeaten side in the tournament along with Kingswood College Kandy. Kingswood stop Antonians Kingswood College kept their chances alive by defeating their home town rivals and the giant killers St. Anthony's College by eight points to six points in another gruelling encounter played at Nittawela during the weekend. The Kingswoodians also kept their unbeaten record intact by scoring a try and putting over a penalty against their opponents solitary penalty and a drop goal. Even then Kingswood's victory was in the balance at one stage and they were trailing 3-6 at half time. They went into the second half with a better frame of mind and turned the game in their favour with scrum half Heshan Premaratne planting the matchwinning try shortly before the final whistle. Kingswood College made certain that they would make no mistakes in the crucial second half and grabbed all the opportunities with a superb team effort. In contrast the Antonians looked completely off colour and were guilty of committing too many errors in the scrums and in the line outs. They could have certanily pulled off this game had they converted all three penalties in the first half. Trinity beat S. Thomas' Meanwhile Trinity College scored a morale boosting 21 points to 15 points win over S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia in their annual encounter played at the Pallekele Stadium during the weekend. This was a marvellous performance from the Trinitians who went on to regain the Canon R. S. de Saram Shield while collecting their points from three tries and two penalties against their opponents three unconverted tries. The Trinitians although not competing in the top division certainly gave a good account of themselves after having conceded a 8-10 lead at half time. But they really got their act together in the last twenty minutes of play with a great team effort while exploiting their home conditions to the maximum. This was no doubt a severe blow for the Thomians although the match will not be considered as a tournament fixture. They will be really disappointed with this result after having scored their first try almost with the kick off. The Thomians failed to consolidate their position from thereonwards and also badly felt the absence of a reliable place kicker. They also scored three tries like their opponents but all three went unconverted which was really crucial at the end. Joes beat Lumbini St. Joseph's College maintained their impressive record by defeating Lumbini MV by 19 points to 5 points in their Singer inter school under 19 'A' division league rugby tournament match played at Havelock Park . The Josephians who are vying for honours in the 'B' division league tournament collected their points from two goals and one try having led 12-5 at half time. Lumbini MV responded with just a solitary try. Centre O. Weerasekera, prop forward C. Munasinghe and full back P. Pradeep scored a try each for the winners with the latter converting two tries. Centre D. Kumara scored the solitary try for Lumbini MV. Science down Nalanda Science College Mount Lavinia scored a convincing 26 points to 5 points win over Nalanda College in their Singer inter school under 19 'A' division league rugby tournament match played at Longden Place. The winners collected their points from three goals and one try while Nalanda managed to score only a solitary try. All scoring was done in the first half. |
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