Wesley College put up a very convincing win in their Inter School A Division match played against Science College today in Mount Lavinia.
Gavin Seigerts became the opening star of the game as he blew across the Science defenders to score near the goal post giving the visitors a much needed early lead in this crucial game. Skipper Rahul De Silva made no mistakes with the conversion, which saw his team leading the game in the third minute of the match itself. Gavin continued to make his heavy hits right along the park boosting his team mate’s spirits and gaining valuable yards on the field for them. A handling error with the three quarters caught the sneaky eye of Science skipper Richard Dharmapala who immediately capitalized on it and went over the touch line to score the first points for his team. Chathura Gomez added to the scored board with the vital conversion leveling the score.
With the levels scored at this point very surprisingly the Giant Killers lost some momentum in their customary game plan resulting in countless handling errors which threw away easy points for Wesley College.
One of such errors was genuinely received by Wesley skipper Rahul who added another three points on the scorecard with an easy penalty conversion. Rahul, seeing that the home side was unsettled with their ball handling made sure to work the ball right along his three quarters all the time, eyeing for a scoring opportunity any minute. The golden opening was made by winger S. K Ariyawansa who used his bullet speed to outplay the Science defense and score near the corner post for the visitors.
With the last minutes of the first half running out, the Science players were awarded with a penalty which Chathura failed to convert into points, thus leaving the scores at half time as at Wesley leading the game with 15 points to 07.
The first half seemed quite disappointing for the Science administration and coaching staff as the players were more or less playing according to their own accord without following to the instructions given to them. This led to many silly mistakes which the Wesley players grabbed and made valuable points with.
With the start of the second half Wesley was awarded with a penalty which Rahul failed to convert with the present windy conditions. However Wesley continued to dominate the second half, virtually having solid 70 percent of the possession. In the 20th minute young J. Juranpathy went over the try line to score an easy try for the visitors. Rahul was once again the limelight at this move as he made sure to send the ball immediately to his speedy three quarters to make use of the opening.
During the last dying stages of the game, the home team ran a riot trying to come back into the game with some daunting chases and stepping. Flanker L. Karunathilake for the Science lads went over the touch line to score the final points for his side. They were literally inches away from the try line to score another try and make scores level when they were accused of a handling error by the forwards which added to their misery. Wesley on the other hand made sure to hold onto the possession of the ball and make no silly mistakes to let lose of their lead. Their defense also paved way for a last minute try scored by full back L. H Madushanka.
At Full Time the scores read as 25 point to 14 in favour of Wesley College. With this win Wesley will be moving up to the number three slot in the points table while the Science College position will be decided after tomorrows match between Dharmarajah and St. Anthony’s College.
Looking at today’s performance and the two teams, Wesley definitely played their ‘A’ game with the right moves at the correct time. Science on other hand was all over the park as they were seemed a bit lost in the game at majority stages. For the winning side. Rahul played a true captains role, controlling much of the team’s moves and making the crucial calls from the half back position while Prop Gavin, full back- Madushanka and young center Juranpathy also had a brilliant game on the field today.
