It was an action packed Premier trophy final at the Royal Complex this evening as the top two teams in the tier, Mahanama College and Lalith Athulathmudali College clashed for the Premier title.
A match that looked to be going in favor of the better known Mahanama later shifted to be a real thriller as the underdogs, Lalith Athulathmudali’s exceptional performance and tremendous grit in the dying stages of play earned them the Premier trophy.
The game started off with the men in blue, the lads from Athulathmudali kicking an easy 22 meter penalty to draw first points off the boots of Madushanka (3-0). The well built outside center for Mahanama, D.T. Dassanayaka got his team on top as his shoved off a couple of players to score the first for his team (5-3). Dassanayaka later converted his try increasing the lead to four points (7-3).
Minutes before half time, it was Mahanama’s Viduvanga who stepped over with ease for the second converted try to take a double figure lead at half time (14-3).
When hopes of victory seemed to diminishing from the Athulathmudali camp, it was the W.K. Perera’s try on the outside that brought them back on even grounds giving them back the competitive edge (8-14). Perera’s try which was on the corner most flag was successfully converted by Madushanka as they edged close near their opponents (10-14).
When the game seemed to be still going in favor of the heavyweight Mahanama College, it was the wonder man flanker Sandaruwan who brought home victory for Athulathmudali. As Sandaruwan broke through the 5 meter penalty without any opposition to score under the posts, all hell broke loose in the Athulathmudali supporter pavilions where they broke into screams of joy (15-14). Madushanka’s conversion heading through the posts got them the three point advantage with less than three minutes to go on the clock. As referee blew for full time, Lalith Athulathmudali MMV had made history securing the Premier trophy.
Full Time 17-14 (2T 2C 1P to 2T 2C)
