Thomians in smashing win over Trinity

Chris DHAMBARAGE

St. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia have cleared a huge psychological barrier in their attempt to win the Singer inter school Under 20 division one league rugby tournament.

Last week at the Pallekelle Stadium they produced a superlative performance to beat Trinity College Kandy by 40 points to 30 points in an exciting high scoring encounter.

The Thomians also retained the Canon R. S. de Saram Shield for the second successive year following their 26-17 triumph last year in Colombo. Even then S. Thomas' College were always under pressure while performing away from home and especially after their shock defeat against Isipatana College at Mount Lavinia last week.

But this time they were well prepared to face the challenge as they completed their task while collecting their points from three goals, two tries and three penalties.

The most significant feature in their performance was that they were able to rectify their last week's mistakes and played to a set plan that certainly brought them the desired results at the end.

The Thomians made certain that the Trinitians would not run away with the game and always kept the deficit under a five point margin. Last week of course they paid a heavy prize for allowing their opponents to build up a commanding 30-7 lead at half time.

But this time S. Thomas' College ensured that they would not commit the same mistake twice and were able to snatch the initiative to put the home side under pressure from the kick off.

Trinity College of course were in the game almost until the final whistle having collected their points from two goals, two tries and two penalties. Last week they snatched a thrilling one point win over their home town rivals Kingswood College but this time they could not produce the same form.

Royal v St. Anthony's

The defending champions Royal College kept their hopes alive with a hard fought 35 points to 18 points victory over St. Anthony's College Kandy in their Singer inter-school Under 20 division one league tournament match worked off at the Royal Sports Complex last week.

The Royal team came under pressure probably for the first time this season and they were trailing 5-15 at half time. But the lads from Reid Avenue proved that they have the capabilities of fighting back as they played like a true champion side in the second half to turn the game in their favour.

Royal clearly dictated terms as they planted five out of the six tries during the last 30 minutes of play during a breathtaking performance that completely rattled their counterparts.

Their success was also a good morale booster while going into this week's vital clash against the table leaders and the hot favourites St. Peter's College on their home grounds at Reid Avenue.

Isipatana v Wesley

Isipatana College powered their way to score an emphatic 35 points to 15 points victory over Wesley College in another Singer inter-school Under 20 division one league tournament match worked off at Havelock Park last week.

Isipatana always looked in control of the game although they had to concede three tries to their opponents.

But they were very much in front as they eventually went pass their opponents while scoring two goals, three tries and two penalties.

But more importantly Isipatana played the game with a lot of confidence and last week's stunning win against S. Thomas' College at Mount Lavinia seem to have done a lot of good to their overall performances.

The Wesleyites could be satisfied considering the fact that this was probably their best performance in terms of tries where they succeeded in penetrating their opponents goal line on three occasions.

St. Peter's v Dharmaraja

The table leaders St. Peter's College warmed up for this week's high profile game against Royal College while recording a morale boosting 58 points to nil victory over Dharmaraja College Kandy on their home grounds at Bambalapitiya.

The Peterites produced another high class performance with their forwards and the three quarters forming a great combination to score four goals and six tries in a one sided encounter.

Kingswood v Prince of Wales

Kingswood College, Kandy came out with a ruthless performance as they humbled newcomers Prince of Wales College Moratuwa by a huge 99 points to 11 points in another Singer inter school Under 20 division one league tournament match worked off at Longden Place last week.

The wet and slippery conditions certainly did not prevent the Kingswoodians from playing some fast open rugby as they went over their opponents goal line on as many as 17 occasions while successfully converting seven of those tries.

This week's fixtures:

May 21: Wesley v Trinity at Royal Complex

May 22: Royal v St. Peter's at Royal Sports Complex, Isipatana v St. Anthony's at Havelock Park, Dharmaraja v Kingswood at Bogambara.

May 23: Prince of Wales v S. Thomas' at Royal Sports Complex.