Ovin Hettiarachchi kicked off proceedings and the Thomians were showing dominance early on by using their big forwards. However after many handling errors from both sides resulted in both teams receiving penalties but STC finally won a line out and opted for the pick and go to inch closer. Kaveen Jayasekera scored the first try after a quick ball out and Ovin converted easily. (07-00)
Soon after the restart the boys from Maliyadewa were hungry for some points and looked quite dangerous with their backline. Kaushalya Gunaweera the Maliyadewa full back opted to go for the 3 pointer from the 22m mark but the kick went astray. Scores remained the same.
Soon after the restart the Maliyadewa boys were on their toes with some silky running and were awarded a penalty once again. Yet again Gunaweera missed the penalty but soon after the restart, the Thomians managed to earn themselves a penalty and kicked into touch. The Thomians used the rolling maul and finally scored with Dunal Fernando over in the 25th minute. Ovin missed the conversion from the difficult angle. (12-00)
The Devans managed to crawl back into the game and once again pointed towards the goal after receiving a penalty. This time Gunaweera made no mistake in the kick as the Devans managed to get some points on the brink of halftime.
HT Scores STC 12 – MC 03
The Thomians seemed a different side soon after the restart as they were hitting from all sides with the replacement half backs Sakith Perera and Jaan De Zoysa coming in. In the 40th minute the Thomian backline made some good yards and Thevin Eeriyagama popped the ball to Hasitha Dharmapriya who finally scored. Jaan made no mistake in the conversion. (19-03)
The Thomians were dominating the game with their forwards as they made some excellent yards and after a knock on by Maliyadewa, Lashandra De Silva the makeshift number 8 made a fantastic break and replacement lock Aaquib Cader dashed under the posts to score the bonus point try. Jaan made the easy conversion. (26-03)
Maliyadewa were once again battered in their own half as after some good passes by the Thomian backline, Shenouk Perera pumped his way near the left wing and passed inside to centre Navishke Karunaratne who looped around under the post. Jaan De Zoysa once again converted with ease. (33-03)
Soon after the restart, Maliyadewa was in deep trouble with their centre Dahanayake making a seat belt tackle on Sadaq Ishaak and was sent off with a yellow card. Despite being down to 14 men, the Devans managed to win a penalty and went for the maul after a clean line out throw. Dilshan broke away from the maul and scored beside the left flag. Gunaweera missed the kick from the difficult angle. (33 – 08)
Kaveen Jayasekera scored the final try of the day as he was almost bundled out but made a powerful run to score near the left flag. (38-08) Jaan missed the conversion and after Maliyadewa were awarded many continuous penalties, they made a brave attempt for a three pointer that went stray. Finally the Devans thought they had enough for the day and kicked the ball out on full after the clock passed full time.
Full time STC 38 – MC 08
Man of the Match- Lashandra De Silva
Referee – Gihan Yatawara
S.Thomas’ College –
Tries- Kaveen Jayasekera (2), Dunal Fernando, Aaquib Cader, Navishke Karunaratne, Hasitha Dharmapriya.
Conversions – Jaan De Zoysa (3), Ovin Hettiarachchi
Maliyadewa College –
Tries – Dilshan Priyaratne
Penalties – Kaushalya Gunaweera
Send offs- Kaveen Dahanayake
