Royal - a step closer to ‘A’ Division League Title

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Royal College have cleared their toughest hurdle in their attempt to regain the Singer inter school under 20 division one league championship. Last week they brought down the reigning champions St. Peter’s College 50-41 with a fantastic performance at Bambalapitiya.

Royal also maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament and now they are just one step away from reaching the pinnacle in this year’s schools rugby scene.

This was easily their best performance for the current season considering the amount of pressure and the situation they were faced throughout the game.

But as they have done in the previous outings they preserved their best for the last few minutes of the game and went on to add the finishing touches in one of the most absorbing rugby matches played this season.

In fact Royal were trailing 21-24 at half time after the Peterites had struck some early blows while scoring four tries. However the visitors got their act together well in the second half and increased the momentum with a splendid late rally.

The result was quite marvellous as Royal touched down on five occasions while conceding only three tries to their opponents during the second quarter. The return of dynamic number eight and skipper Shehan Pathirana certainly made a huge impact in Royal’s overall performance in this fixture.

Isipatana v Kingswood

Isipatana College pulled off a hard fought 10-5 victory over Kingswood College in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy.

Isipatana of course will be disappointed with the final result because they started off as the clear favourites and were hoping to win the match by a more convincing margin.

But instead they had to face some tough moments from their opponents and managed to turn the game in their favour while scoring just two unconverted tries.

For Kingswood this was a real morale booster as they came closer of creating a major upset before going down fighting within a five point margin which gave them an extra bonus point.

Science College v S. Thomas’

Science College came out with another splendid performance to beat S. Thomas’ College 31 nil in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at Mount Lavinia.

Science College proved too strong for the Thomians as they delivered a tremendous blow while collecting their points from one goal, three tries and three penalties.

This has been one of the best year’s for Science College having already brought down a couple of top teams in the tournament.

They of course started off with three penalties and took a close nine nil lead at half time.

But they were able to dominate the proceedings in the second half and went on to underline their supremacy in a most remarkable manner.

They crossed their opponent’s goal line on four occasions and finished off without conceding any points.

Wesley v Dharmaraja

Dharmaraja College Kandy pulled off an exciting 25-23 victory over Wesley College in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match played at Longden Place. The Rajans despite performing away from home rallied around magnificently through their hard working forwards before adding the finishing touches to the game with a last minute penalty.

Altogether Dharmaraja College played some superb rugby to edge out their opponents in a thrilling encounter while collecting their points from one goal, three tries and one penalty.

This was another missed opportunity for Wesley College who were always in the game until the final whistle having responded with one goal, two tries, one penalty and one drop goal.

St. Anthony’s v St. Joseph’s

St. Anthony’s College came out with a pleasing performance to outsmart St. Joseph’s College 24-13 in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match played at the Nittawela Stadium in Kandy.

The Antonians withstood the early pressure from their opponents and went on to seal the game while collecting their points from two goals and two tries. St. Joseph’s College who went with a lot of promise managed to score only two tries and a penalty.

Trinity v Thurstan

Trinity College powered their way to a resounding 41-3 victory over Thurstan College in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy.

The Trinitians with their powerful set of forwards had no difficulties in overcoming their opponents as they ran down seven tries while converting three of them.

Royal v S. Thomas’

Royal College came from behind with a spectacular performance to beat their traditional rivals S. Thomas’ College 22-7 in their annual inter school under 20 rugby match played at Mount Lavinia.

Royal after trailing 0-7 at half time came into their own in the second quarter scoring three tries and also went on to retain the Michael Gunaratne Trophy for the sixth successive year.