A revamped Trinity College outfit showcased a completely different act in comparison to their first, ousted St. Joseph’s College 40-14 in a clinical contest at the Pallekelle Rugby Stadium this evening.
Full time score : Trinity 40 – St. Joseph’s 14
St. Joseph’s College travelled to Kandy after a disappointing loss against S. Thomas’ in the opening weekend and the hosts Trinity too didn’t have too much to bring to the game after their unimpressive 7-5 win with the Weselyites.
Trinity playing a complete fifteen with their skipper in the starting numbers got off to the majestic start that any team would yearn for with a try in the opening minutes. Turning the ball from the ruck it was Nathan Yee who offloading it on to Geshan Pethiyagoda who had a clean run fending off a few player on his way to score the first try under the post. Thushila Perera had his first kick over without an error (7-0).
Trinity’s next two attempts at scoring proved to be a failure with the quick thinking Romesh Priyankara of St. Joseph’s made two impressive try saving tackles. However the flood gates opened up when Trinity received a scrum in their attacking 22m and with the defensive lines having open spaces in the outside, Sanushka Abeywickrema was over for the next try. Perera had the second conversion through as Trinity had a 14-0 lead
Photo Album – Trinity College vs St.Joseph’s College (Schools Rugby 2016)
With St. Joseph’s not being able get any points on board in the first half, the second half proved to be an entertaining forty minutes of play but a 14-0 score was half time for the hosts.
Trinity showed their worth in the very first minute of the second half, when they were yet again gifted a scrum in the 5 meter. It was Rishane Madena executing the age-old #8 break to score the third. (21-0)
Chathu Seneviratne of St. Joseph’s brought back the point scoring momentum to his team when he chased down Thushila Perera’s clearance kick and later covered almost 60 meters to score. His score and the conversion by Raveen Antonio gave them the determination to fight back (7-21).
Trinity’s reply came soon after the restart when they pushed forward a rolling maul to the try line taking advantage of their pack weight to score the next. Melan Maliesh touched down for the Lions and the score moved five points forward (26-7).
The lock forward from St. Joseph’s tried to seep through the Trinity defense recreating the Trinity try that came from the forwards and with them having the advantage of the additional numbers, it allowed Supun Appuhamy to score the second important try for St. Joseph’s. Chathu Seneviratne converted and with scores reading 26-14, St. Joseph’s still had time to make a possible comeback.
But with two more tries coming in the scoreboard in favor of Trinity, the task ofclosing the gap was impossible for the visitors. Trinity once again used the utility forward maul to score off the efforts of Shalindra Alahakoon and later came out a glamour try from Anuka Boyagoda. It was Geshan Pethiyagoda who made the break from the Josephian defense and coming in support Anuka Boyagoda did the honors of registering the try. With both conversions sailing through, the Lions were on 40 points in reply to the 14 St. Joseph’s scored giving them the second win for the season.
St. Joseph’s came up against a revamped Trinity outfit this week, a much better team than the one that met Wesley a fortnight back. The Joes had clearly made strides but seemed unable to execute their game plan accordingly. Opportunities went begging for both sides and two yellow cards were conceded by Trinity in the last two minutes as Naween Rajaratnam and Anuka Boyagoda saw them in the sin bin for the last few minutes of play.
ThePapare Player of the Match – Geshan Pethiyagoda (Trinity)
Points breakdown:
Trinity 40 (6T 5C)
Tries by : Geshan Pethiyagoda, Melan Maliesh, Shalindra Alahakoon, Sanushka Abeywickrema, Anuka Boyagoda & Rishane Madena
Conversions : (4) by Thushila Perera and (1) by Lashane Wijesuriya
St. Joseph’s 14 (2T 2C)
Tries by : Chathu Seneviratne, Supun Appuhamy
Conversions : Raveen Antonio and Chathu Seneviratne
