Peterites remain unbeaten by edging out Royal

Chris Dhambarage

St. Peter’s College took a giant step closer towards winning the Singer inter school Under 20 Division One League title while recording their fifth successive victory this season.

Last week they produced another tremendous performance and edged out the reigning champions Royal College by 22 points to 20 points in a key match worked off at the Royal Sports Complex, Reid Avenue.

St. Peter’s also avenged their last year’s 10-30 defeat while collecting their points from one goal and three tries against Royal’s one goal, two tries and one penalty.

Even then the Peterites went through some real anxious moments during the latter stages of the game and held their nerves to pull off a thrilling victory at the end. They looked like running away with the game at one stage after having built up a commanding 15-8 lead at half time.

But in a dramatic turn of events Royal came back magnificently and scored twice in succession during the last few minutes to completely change the complexion of the game. They would have really stretched the Peterites had they converted the two tries and put over the penalties.

Nevertheless St. Peter’s College again displayed their prowess with a superb all round effort where they stamped their class by running down four splendid tries. They stuck to their basics and always regained possession that helped them to be on top of their opponents most of the time.

Dynamic centre three quarter Dhanushka Ranjan again made his presence felt while scoring a hattrick of tries for the third time in the tournament. He had earlier performed a similar role against Trinity College Kandy at the Pallekelle Stadium and Prince of Wales College Moratuwa.

St. Peter’s College now remains as the only unbeaten team at the half way mark of the tournament which will conclude on June 19.

Isipatana v St. Anthony’s

Isipatana College were made to fight all the way before snatching a thrilling one point victory (16-15) over St. Anthony’s College Kandy in a nail biting Singer inter school under 20 division one league tournament match played at Havelock Park last week.

The Isipatana defence was in complete disarray as they struggled during the latter stages before pulling off the game under wet and slippery conditions. They were well set to clinch the game by a more convincing margin after having taken a 13-7 lead at half time.

But they just could not consolidate their position and managed to put over only a solitary penalty in the second half. In contrast the Antonians got themselves well organized and then launched a fierce counter attack which nearly brought them the desired results at the end.

St. Anthony’s College despite going down were able to collect an extra bonus point for scoring more tries than their opponents and for losing within a five point margin.

Isipatana will be really disappointed with their effort considering the fact they will be up against the defending champions Royal in another tough encounter this week. The ground conditions were certainly not suitable for the game but still they could have pulled off the match by a more convincing margin.

Trinity v Wesley

Trinity College Kandy produced a great second half rally to beat Wesley College in another Singer inter school under 20 division one league tournament match worked off Maitland Crescent last week.

The Trinitians coming after their setback in the previous game against S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia struggled at the beginning and came under severe pressure from their opponents. Wesley College certainly capitalized on their opponents mistakes early on and were able to keep the score to five all at half time. This was a creditable achievement for Wesley who were looking to register their first victory of the tournament.

However Trinity College woke up in the second half and bounced back in style to score three more tries and seal the game in their favour.

S. Thomas’ v Prince of Wales

S. Thomas’ College came out with a magnificent performance as they routed Prince of Wales College Moratuwa by a massive 98 points to three points in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league tournament match played at Mount Lavinia last week.

The Thomians accustomed themselves well to the wet conditions from the beginning and went on rattle up a total of 16 tries out of which nine were converted. Their star player and speedy wing three quarter Anuruddha Willwara was outstanding as he planted six tries and number eight Sudarshana Muthuthantri accounted for five tries.

Kingswood v Dharmaraja

Kingswood College Kandy powered their way to an emphatic 43 points to 20 points victory over their home town rivals Dharmaraja College in another Singer inter school under 20 division one league tournament match worked off at the Bogambara Stadium last week.

The Kingswoodians took this opportunity to warm up for this week’s important game against the table leaders St. Peter’s College while running down seven tries and converting four of them.

The Rajans of course put up an improved performance in the second half and had the satisfaction of scoring a goal and two tries and one penalty.

This week’s fixtures:

May 29: St. Peter’s v Kingswood at Bambalapitiya, St. Anthony’s v Trinity at Nittawela, Dharmaraja v S. Thomas’ at Bogambara, Wesley v Prince of Wales at Royal Sports Complex.

May 30: Isipatana v Royal at Longden Place