Royal College retained the B.C.Anghie trophy for the 4th consecutive year by defeating St.Peter’s College 17 points to 10 this evening at Bambalapitiya. At half time it was 17-03 in favour of the Reid Avenue boys.

Stephan Sivaraj kicked the game off under hot and humid conditions. The game was an error struck game as both team made handling errors , line outs were very scrappy and conceded a lot of penalties in the first quarter of the game .St Peter’s scored first through Sivaraj where he received an penalty when the Royal College tackler didn’t release the Peterite ball carrier.(SPC 03-00 RC)

Royal replied immediately with an outstanding break from their bulky prop Himantha Hirushan who gained more than 30 meters and offloaded it to their centre Janidu Dilshan to touchdown for the Royalist. Mohamed Shakir couldn’t convert it. (SPC 03-05 RC)

St Peter’s didn’t restart well as the kick went to touch in full and a centre scrum was awarded to the Royalists, from which they received a penalty as the Peterites were deemed offside by referee Dinka Pieris. Royal College scrum half Migara Mihisanka took a bold decision to take a quick tap and run and he spread the ball wide to the in-form Janidu Dilshan to score under the post. Shakir didn’t miss the easy conversion. (SPC 03-12 RC)

In the dying stages of the first half the Peterites considered an unwanted penalty in their red zone. Royal College opted to go for the line out and they formed their trademark maul near their 5 meter line. St.Peter’s committed all their forwards towards stopping the Royal maul. Himantha Hirushan realized that the blind side of the field was open without any defenders so he made a break from the maul to score near the left corner. Shakir was unable to increase their lead through his conversion. (SPC 03-17 RC)

Half time – SPC 03 – 17 RC

Third quarter of game was the carbon copy of the first quarter where both team couldn’t score any points and game was played at a slow pace. There were a lot of stoppages in the second half as both teams made handling errors regularly. St.Peter’s missed out on scoring opportunities as the ball handling were below par.

Lenox Calyaranarathna received a yellow card and the momentum shifted from Royal College towards St.Peter’s as they took the maximum from the numerical advantage they received as Stephan Sivaraj scored under the post. He converted his own try. (SPC 10-17 RC)

During the last 10 minutes the Peterites continuously attacked the Royal College defence but the Royalist were up to their task and defended superbly to hold on to their lead to win the game.

Full Time – SPC 10-17 RC

ThePapare player of the match – Janidu Dilshan (Royal College)

Match referee – Dinka Pieris

The score breakdown

St.Peter’s College (03) 10
Tries: Stephan Sivaraj
Conversion: Stephan Sivaraj
Penalties: Stephan Sivaraj

Royal College (17) 17
Tries: Janidu Dilshan (2), Himantha Hirushan
Conversions: Mohamed Shakir

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