S. Thomas’ College notched up their second win of the season as they managed to comeback from behind to overcome a visiting St. Anthony’s College at the Havelock Sports Club Grounds today.
The Thomians came into the game as favourites following their victory over defending champs Dharmaraja, while the Antonians had suffered a severe defeat at the hands of Science College. It was the Antonians that came flying out of the blocks however, with Scrum Half D. M Jayatissa making a brilliant run down the right flank, before converting it himself, to give the lads from Katugasthota an early seven point lead.
The boys from Mt. Lavinia were guilty of playing some scrappy rugby in the period that followed. The Anthonians held a good defensive line, but were penalized on multiple occasions for taking too much time with their lineouts. The Thomians managed to capitalize when such an infringement occurred in the Antonian 22, with No. 8 Shanel Perera taking a quick ball and charging through the Antonian defence to put the Thomians on the board. An unsuccessful conversion left the Thomians trailing 5 to 7.
The scrappy rugby continued for the Thomians after the try however, with a lot of basic mistakes being made by the players. Fly half Hans Walpola had a dismal outing in the first half, as he kept kicking the ball straight into the hands of the Antonian Wings on numerous occasions. St. Anthony’s enjoyed majority possession, and most of the half was spent with the Thomians defending in their own half. The Antonians were unable to reflect the pressure they exerted on the scoreboard however, as they missed two penalties and made mistakes at the end of some very good plays. They finally managed to increase their score just before half time, with Jayatissa putting a penalty over to bring the lead up to five.
Half Time S.Thomas’ 5 – 10 St. Anthonys
Whatever the Thomian coach Grant Dwyer said during the break seemed to be effective, as the Thomians looked a totally different side in the second half. They were stringing together good passes and dominating the Antonians in both the scrum and the lineout. The quality of their kicking had also improved dramatically. A passage of play that started with the Thomians stealing an Antonian lineout led to wing Kasun Jayasuriya charging over the line near the corner post to score the second try for S. Thomas and pulling things level at 10 all.
It seemed that the Thomian machine had finally started running on high gear, as they pushed the Antonian defence relentlessly. An offside call five metres from the Antonian try line resulted in a quick tap and Second Row A.H.R Senanayake going over the line to put the lads from Mt Lavinia in the lead for the first time in the game.
The intense heat led to a number of players cramping up for both teams, and both sides were forced to make substitutions due to injuries, but the Thomians maintained the pressure right throughout the half, being especially superior in the scrums. The Antonians had opportunities when the Thomian forward Udawatte was sent to the sin bin to take advantage of their numbers advantage; especially when they were given a penalty, five metres from the try line. The Thomian defence held off the onslaught however, and it was they who added to the score, with Walpola putting over a penalty kick to bring the score up to 18 – 10.
With Udawatte coming off the sin bin, and the Thomians back at full strength, the result of the game was all but inevitable. There was still time for S. Thomas’ to put icing on the cake however, as a very strong scrum led to substitute S. Jayatilake scoring yet another try for S. Thomas’. Walpola came good with the conversion and the full time whistle was blown with S. Thomas’ clinching an ultimately definitive 25 – 10 victory.
The Antonians can take satisfaction from the way they played the first half, but will be disappointed they couldn’t finish those moves properly. The Thomians are showing that they take sometimes to get going, and made some silly mistakes early on, but were ultimately too strong for the boys from Katugasthota, especially in the set pieces.
Full Time S.Thomas’ 25 – 10 St. Anthonys
ThePapare.com Player of the Match – K.D.S.A Nanayakkara
