Antonians stun Thomians to seal Super Round spot

St. Anthony’s College secured the fourth and last Super Round spot when they defeated S. Thomas’ College 34-17 in their Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament match played at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy.

With their closest rivals D. S. Senanayake College succumbing to St. Joseph’s College 16-29 in their decisive game at Havelock Park on the same day, the Antonians were able to seal the second spot from Group 1A.

The Antonians will now join the defending champions Isipathana College, Royal College and St. Peter’s College, who had already booked their place in the final-round of this 14-team tournament, conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association.

The Katugastota Eagles completed their task in style as they ran down six tries and converted two of them for a much-needed bonus point win while conceding just a couple of tries to their opponents. Their success also had a great amount of significance as they went on to regain the Rev. Fr. Angelo Rosati Memorial Trophy after a lapse of 12 years having last defeated the Thomians way back in 2011 with a record score of 63-13.

St. Joseph’s v D. S. Senanayake

St. Joseph’s delivered a cruel blow and knocked-out the giant-killers D. S. Senanayake from reaching the final-round with a smashing 29-16 victory in their last match of the league tournament played at Havelock Park. The previous league runners-up, coming into this game after last week’s break, made their intentions clear from the kick-off and ran down five tries to completely rattle their opponents and record a consolation win.

The writing was on the wall for D. S. Senanayake from the moment Skipper Naveen Marasinghe crashed in to score the first try for the Joes as early as in the fifth minute of play. From there onwards D. S. Senanayake were always playing catch-up rugby for most of the time and despite a late comeback they fell well short of their target of at least obtaining a losing bonus point, which would have guaranteed their place in the Super Round segment.

St. Peter’s v Vidyartha

Unbeaten St. Peter’s warmed-up for the Super Round segment with a massive 66-10 victory over Vidyartha College in their Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament match played at Bambalapitiya. The former league champions went on the rampage with their best performance for the current season as they ran down 10 tries to register the biggest win so far, in the current season. The Peterites also increased their overall tally to 34 points and finished well in front of Group 2A with five successive victories to their credit.

Science College v Dharmaraja

Science College produced a splendid second half rally to beat Dharmaraja College 24-21 in a thrilling Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament match played at Mount Lavinia. The home side were trailing 13-21 at the break but they got their act together well in the later stages and went on to register their first win of the tournament.

However, the game was heading for a 21-21 draw at one stage as both teams went into the last few minutes of play under pressure, but the home side held their nerve and fired across a penalty to seal the contest in their favour. Fly half Oshada Perera was the most outstanding player for Science College as he scored a try and fired across three important penalties under tremendous pressure.

Wesley v Kingswood

Wesley College had the satisfaction of recording their first win for the season as they defeated traditional rivals Kingswood College 30-15 in their annual fixture played for the L. E. Blaze Trophy at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy. Hooker Abdullah Siddeek was the standout player for the visitors with three magnificent tries as the Wesleyites finally managed to taste success after having suffered five successive defeats.

Action from the match between
Science College and Dharmaraja

Action from the match between
St. Peter’s and Vidyartha