The 25th battle for the T. V. Sumanasekara Memorial Trophy ended in favour of the defending Champions St. Aloysius College, as they managed to defend their title for a second consecutive year after beating their arch rivals, Richmond College, 20 points to nil at the Koggala BOI ground, earlier today.
It was a breezy evening at Koggala as the fans from both teams kept filling the ground, creating that ‘Big match’ like atmosphere long before the kick-off.
Right from the ‘get-go’, St. Aloysius College held the upper-hand putting the home team under tremendous pressure. It didn’t take the visitors long to force a gap open in defensive line, after the Aloysians set up a solid rolling maul which drove them to their first try. Saliya Bandara dove over the whitewash from the back of the maul after spotting the gap in the left flank. Malshan Adithya made a peach of a kick from a difficult angle, which put defending champions in an early lead. (SAC 07 – 00 RC)
The Richmondites did not absorb the pressure well enough – they dropped balls and leaked penalties which caused a lot of damage. Malshan Adithya managed to make every penalty Richmond conceded count. He converted two penalties into three pointers, giving his side the perfect start. (SAC 13 – 00 RC)
Nothing was going Richmond’s way, every time they found themselves inside the opposition half, they lost possession. However, after mostly defending, a golden opportunity went begging for the home team, at the brink of half-time. Richmond wing had to just collet the ball for a try was assured – but much to the delight of the Aloysians, the young winger knocked it on leaving his team scoreless in the first-half.
HT: SAC led 13 – 00 RC
The second-half saw the Richmondites display a whole new game. They came out stronger and managed to retain ball possession over and over again. They even played most of the final half in their opposition’s side which sparked a glimpse of hope in the fans’ minds.
But, breaching the defending champions defence line was not an easy task. Even after St. Aloysius dropped down to thirteen men, Richmond still could not score any points. Richmond lacked urgency at breakdowns, as the scrum-half was confused throughout most of the game, which gave the defenders the opportunity to regroup and settle down.
It was a ‘stop-start’ affair all throughout the seventy minutes, but finally when things seemed to work for Richmond, the Aloysians pounced on a loose ball which sealed the nail in Richmonds coffin.
Young Prop forward, Thumura Kaushan was the fortunate receiver after staying in support play, he picked the ball from the breakdown and just crashed his way over the line. The Aloysians knew they had won it then as the celebrations had already begun. Malshan added the extra two and made sure the 25th T. V. Sumanasekara Trophy was theirs, and theirs only. (SAC 20 – 00 RC)
Full Time : Richmond College nil lost – 20 St. Aloysius College (2T 2C 2P)
ThePapare.com’s Player of the Match: Malshan Adithya (SAC)
Referee: Aruna Shantha
Points Breakdown – SAC
Tries : Saliya Bandara. Thumura Kaushan
Conversions : Malshan Aditya (2C & 2P
