Mercantile Rugby Championship ends

RUGBY: Seylan Bank 'A' clinched the Dialog GSM Trophy for the first time, beating the formidable Ceylinco 'A' by 24 points (two goals two tries) to 14 (two goals) in a fast rugby final seen by a capacity crowd at CR & FC Grounds, Longdon Place on Sunday.

At lemons the score was Ceylinco 14 and Seylan 12 points, but after the turn around the Seylan 'A' team changed their game plan and played faster rugby with some fierce tackling from both side. Saliya Kumara of Ceylinco the only National player played an excellent game with his powerful runs while for Seylan, National players of the Calibre of Skipper Amjad Buksh, Fazil Marija and Dinesh stood out.

The try scorers for Seylan Bank were Dinesh, Fazil Marija, Prasad and Jabar who planted a spectacular try at the last moment before the final whistle covering 75 metres. Buksh converted two tries.

More than 360 players form 36 leading Mercantile Rugby teams took part in this grand finale in the 36th Mercantile Rugby Sevens which was conducted by the Mercantile Rugby Football Association (MRFA), and sponsored by Dialog Telekom for the 4th successive year.

It was nice to see Chanaka Fernando the oldest participant in this tournament an Old Peterite taking part for 25 years.

His debut in 1982 was playing for Heath and Company and this was his 17th appearance for Metropolitan.

The results: CUP - Seylan Bank 'A' beat Ceylinco 24 points to 14.

PLATE: Christy Holdings beat MAS Holdings 17 points to 7.

BOWL: V&U Electronics beat Hirdaramani 'N' 26 points to 17 while the SHIELD was won by Lanka Bell who beat MAS Holdings 'C' 15 points to 7.

SPECIAL AWARDS: Premraj Peiris Memorial Challenge Trophy awarded to the Man-of-the-Final was won by 19 years old Debutant Ashan de Costa of Seylan Bank Capt. Mathew George Memorial Challenge Trophy awarded for the Most Promising Player was won by Dinuk Wijeratna of MAS Holdings, MRFA Challenge Trophy awarded to the Most Up & Coming Player was won by Samantha Lakshan , Mohan Daniel Memorial Challenge Trophy awarded to the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament was won by Saliya Kumara of Ceylinco Group.