Unbeaten Science ‘Maroons’ SC will look to notch-up their third successive victory when they take on the Petersons SC in their SLR Under-24 League Rugby Tournament fixture on Saturday at the Science College Grounds in Mount Lavinia.
Science ‘Maroons’ of course, have already secured their place in the Cup Championship final with back-to-back-victories against the Old Wesleyites Sports Club (OWSC) 22-7 and the Field Force Sports Club 115-0 respectively. Nevertheless, they would like to complete their first-round matches on a winning note and keep their momentum going into the knock-out stage of the competition from next week.
Petersons SC are also in contention for a place in the Cup Championship final having won one and lost one match so far in this new look tournament, which has been revived after a lapse of more than 10 years. In fact, Petersons SC started their campaign with a morale boosting 35-10
win over the Field Force SC Team, but they were annihilated 0-60 by the OWSC in their second outing of the tournament.
No doubt, the odds will be heavily against the Petersons SC, but they will be keen to put up an improved performance to challenge their opponents in this last preliminary round encounter.
Meanwhile, OWSC are set to register their second successive victory when they confront the wooden spoonists Field Force SC in another Under-24 match at the Thurstan College Grounds on Saturday.
This game is crucial for the OWSC as another victory would give them a real chance of playing in the Cup Championship final, scheduled for December 4 at the Police Park in Colombo.
OWSC would certainly take the field brimming with confidence especially after last week’s convincing victory against the Petersons SC at this same venue.
Inspired with that success, OWSC would look to repeat that performance and keep the momentum to book their spot in the Cup Championship final. In contrast, the young Field Force SC Team is searching for their first win of the tournament, and they would look to at least reduce the margin of defeat with an improved performance.
Field Force SC, of course, had a decent outing against the Petersons SC in their curtain-raiser match of the tournament but they were hammered 0-115 by Science ‘Maroons’ in their second game.
Despite having lost both games there is still more to play in this tournament for Field Force SC as now they will be targeting a place in the Plate Championship along with the six provincial teams.
Meanwhile, the formidable Western Province will start favourites when they meet the Southern Province in another Under-24 fixture at the Thurstan College Grounds on Sunday.
The Western Province have already got off to a rousing start as they routed Uva Province 119-0 in their opening match of the tournament two weeks ago at the Vincent Dias Grounds in Badulla.
However, this time Western Province are certain to receive some opposition as the Southern Province will take the field on the back of a comfortable 51-0 victory against the Uva Province last week.
Central Province will take on the North Central Province in another Under-24 tournament match on Sunday at the Bernard Aluvihare Stadium in Matale.