Kingswood in runaway 51-8 win over Joes

CHRIS DHAMBARAGE

The defending champions Kingswood College, Kandy powered their way to an emphatic 51 points to 8 victory over the giant killers St. Joseph’s College in their inter-school under 20 ‘A’ division league rugby tournament match worked off at the Royal College Sports Complex grounds at Reid Avenue yesterday.

The winners collected their points from five goals, two tries and two penalties after having led 11-nil at half time. St. Joseph’s College managed to score only a solitary try and put over a penalty.

The Kingswoodians soon realized the fact that this was a tough assignment and stuck to their basics from the kick off. They played to their strength and made certain that they always retained possession after every move which was a key area for their success.

The pressure was no doubt on Kingswood College who were performing away from home and that too in their second outing for the current season. But they got their act together well at the correct time and went about their task like a true champion side.

Skipper and fly half Roshan Weeraratne led the way with a fantastic performance where the three quarters handled the ball with near perfection. The forwards spearheaded by the dynamic Rajitha Abeykoon were able to withstand the pressure and had their share of dominance in the line outs and set pieces.

Kingswood College underlined their authority with a magnificent performance in the second half where they were able to penetrate their opponent’s defence on three occasions.

First it was their scrum half Mohamed Afzal who produced a smart piece of work to touch down in the 12th minute of play after the forwards had covered good ground with a series of threatening moves. Roshan Weeraratne added the extra points and Kingswood College were on their way to another big victory.

Two minutes later Kingswood College struck again through centre three quarter Sanjaya Weerasekera.

This time the three quarters played a major role in initiating the move from mid field with full back Rajitha Sansoni also joining the line. This try was also converted by Roshan Weeraratne.

This was followed by four more tries from winger Prabath Jayalath, full back Rajitha Sansoni (2) and skipper Roshan Weeraratne who in fact produced a breathtaking 50 metre dash to score a splendid try.

This was after full back Rajitha Sansoni had also produced a similar effort where he covered almost 70 metres to touch down under the post. Skipper Weeraratne converted two tries and flanker Janath Dharmawardena goaled one try.

Even then Kingswood managed to score only a solitary try in the first half through centre three quarter Indunil Bandara in the 23rd minute of play. After several unsuccessful attempts they decided to run the ball with a real purpose and Bandara picked a massive gap in the Josephian defence to touch down near the corner flag.

Skipper Roshan Weeraratne added the extra points having earlier fired across a good 25 metre penalty that gave Kingswood an early lead. He followed up with another neat 25 metre penalty shortly before half time to set the pace for an explosive second half.

St. Joseph’s College scored a consolation try during the latter stages of the second half through second row forward Thurantha Dambadeniya with number eight Malintha Soysa putting over a penalty.

Referee: Dilroy Fernando.