St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya kept their hopes alive of clinching the Singer Division One League Rugby Title with a thrilling 23-21 win over traditional rivals St. Joseph’s College, Maradana which also enabled them to regain the Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield after a lapse of three years.
The Josephians were leading 21-20 till the last minute of the game when a Josephian player tried to begin a move in their own ‘25’ and was brought down and in the ensuing melee a Josephian player was penalised and Peterite full back Thenuka Nanayakkara put over the easy 25 metre penalty much to the jubilation of the Peterite supporters to make it 23-21 at the final whistle.
It was the Joes who dominated the first half in which they took a 13-5 lead through a try by winger Teran Karunanayake with fly half Santhush Algama firing across two penalties with the Peterites solitary scoring effort coming through a try by scrum half Raveen Fernando.
The Peterites fought back in the second half and scored two fine tries through lock Nizran Mohamed and winger Shenal Silva with Nanayakkara converting one of the tries and also putting over a penalty to put them ahead at 20-18. The Joes grabbed the lead once again when Algama made no mistake with a 20 metre penalty and the score read 21-20 in favour of Joes. But the mistake made by a Peterite player in the last minute resulted in the Peterite full back Nanayakkara sending the ball sailing over the cross bar off the 25 metre penalty which also dashed the Joes hopes of clinching the league title having finished runner-up last year.
At the Royal Sports Complex Royal College after being led 0-6 at the breather came back storming in the second half to register a 19-6 win over Isipathana College to retain the Milroy Fernando Trophy. Two penalties fired across by fly half Manelka Ruberu put Isipathana in the lead in the first half which they dominated with Royal being reduced to 13 players in the last 15 minutes with two players being sent to the Sin Bin.
The Reid Avenue school took control of the game after resumption through their power packed forwards and crossed the Isipathana goal line thrice through flanker Achitha Radeeshan, centre Lehan Gunaratne and prop Lahiru Yomal to make it 19-6 but ran short of time in their bid to score one more try to earn a bonus point but are still in contention for the League Title and have to beat the Josephians in their last game this Saturday by also scoring four tries if they are to retain the league title for the third successive year.
The Trinity Lions roared at Mount Lavinia to emerge victorious by overcoming the spirited Thomians 17-11 after being led 7-11 at ‘lemons’.
It was the lads from Mount Lavinia who dictated terms in the first half scoring a try through Sadik Ishaq with Thevin Eriyagama putting over two penalties with Trinity replying through a try by winger Janidu Ratnayake with Minidu Jayasundara adding the extra points.
The Lions snatched the lead early in the second half through an unconverted try by Mehedi Abdulla. In the dying stages of the game Trinity winger Amith Kulatunga put the issue beyond doubt by scoring an unconverted try to make it 17-11 at the final whistle.
The high riding Wesleyites who scored two stunning wins over Isipathana (29-18) and Josephians (15-13) were in for a rude shock when they were beaten 21-26 by the lowly placed Science College which put paid to their chances of finishing fourth in the League Championship.
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