Thurstan take on Antonians today

by Chris Dhambarage

Thurstan College will be hoping to register their second straight victory this season when they take on St. Anthony's College Kandy in their Singer under 20 'B' division league rugby tournament match at Havelock Park today.

The Thurstanites have already made a fine start to the season defeating St. Sylvester's College Kandy by 34 points to nil in their opening fixture played at the same venue last week.

But this time they will be up against a tough opposition and should turn out to be a real test which will certainly decide their forte for the rest of the season.

The Antonians of course are out to make amends following a disappointing season last year where they finished sixth out of seven teams in the inaugural Singer 'A' division league tournament. As a result they have been demoted into the 'B' division and are really determined to redeem some of their lost prestige with an improved performance in the current inter school season.

This year the Thurstan team will be captained by third row forward Amila Eranga who will combine with Sasanka Ariyaratne and Imadh Marikkar. Hooker Lahiru Dias is the vice captain and he will combine with Heshan Lankika and Chamili Prasad in the front row. Udara Wickremasinghe and Tharanga Sudarshana will be the two second row forwards.

Osanda Sarathchandra will operate from the base of the scrum with Dilan Nadeesha as the fly half. Rakitha Bandara and Thilina Lakmal will be the two centre three quarters with Shane Aravinda and Suminda Tharaka as the two wingers. Zaharan Munna will man the last line of defence.

Thurstan College experienced mixed fortunes last year where they registered three victories from five outings while competing in the Singer 'B' division league tournament. This time of course their main intention is to finish among the top two teams which will certainly assure them a promotion into the top division.

The Thurstanites will also meet Science College on August 4 at Havelock Park, Zahira College on August 25 and Dharmaraja College on September 5 in Kandy. Their traditional fixture against former 'A' division league champions Isipatana College which is also a tournament match is scheduled for September 18 at Longden Place. Thurstan are also down to play two other matches against Wesley College and D. S. Senanayake College during the current season.

The Antonians will be making their second trip to Colombo having defeated Science College in their first appearance last week at this same venue. This game will also help them to warm up for another important clash against Isipatana which is scheduled for August 6 also at Havelock Park.