The boys from Templars Road, Science College made yet another significant milestone in their rugby beating St. Anthony’s College 34-27 to register their second win this Singer Division I segment league game held at Nittawela this evening.
St. Anthony’s College playing under a pressurized situation without a single win under their name after two weeks of action were en-route in achieving that long lasting desire this weekend. Little did they know that the boys from Science were tough players who would fight till the last whistle.
The visitors had the early chance of drawing first blood through an easy penalty kick which went astray. An evenly matched first 15 minutes of play came to a cease as the hefty Antonian skipper Dilan Neuman broke the Science line of defense covering almost a 50m fell just of the try line as he offloaded the ball on to Maduwanka who scored under the posts. With Maduwanka kicking the ball through the posts, St. Anthony’s took the commanding early lead (7-0).
Science quick to ponder, their skipper Lahiru Karunathilake executed a perfect #8 break from the 5 meter scrum to bring the first Science try. Maduranga’s conversion bought the scores back on even grounds (7-7).
St. Anthony’s fought back capitalizing on the sloppy hands of their counterparts after a passage of over 5 phases of play as lock forward Seelagama scored on the farther right. (12-7) The reply from the Science camp was spontaneous as the skipper Karunathilake saw the available open space when he was gifted a 5 m penalty made it through shoving away the heavy Antonian forwards to make business once again even.
The restart gave the Antonians a rude shock as the young Science wing three quarter Sajith Rohan kicked in an up and under kick which he collected cleanly sprinted to the try line warding off the last defender to make history for Science College. 14 year old Sajith Rohan made history books flip as he registers his name as the Youngest player to score a try in the school rugby format in this contemporary era. It was a wonderful sight to watch as the entire pavilions stood up for this young chap to applaud his effort. With the conversion through, Science took a 7 point lead at lemons
Half Time – SACK 12-19 SC
The game still being open, it was St. Anthony’s who tried to get themselves up in their game as Seelagama mastered a breakthrough while offloading the ball on to Dinuk Ameresinghe who did the honors to score. Maduwanka’s miss in the kick allowed Science to hold on to a two point lead (17-19).
The Science wing-threes showcased some impressive runs throughout play and this time it was M.K. Maduranga’s cross kick which gave his counterpart R.D Silva enough time to chase it through and score their fourth try. Though the conversion failed, Science had with themselves a solid seven point lead.
St. Anthony’s immediately cut the deficit by three points which came off the boot of Maduwanka but that was not enough to stop the fast moving Silva. Silva did a repeat performance of his earlier try to once again, this time covering almost 60 meters to score the decisive fifth try. This try was the turning point of the game as the conversion going through, Science were now in a commanding position. (20-31)
As skipper Karunathilake crossed over for his third to make it a hat trick of tries when Science put their line into good use, Dillon Wijewardena’s consolation try for St. Anthony’s did not suffice to avert a Science victory at Nittawela. With St. Anthony’s getting another goal, the final scores read 36-27 in favor of the Science lads giving them a well deserved victory.
It was an evenly poised game but to St. Anthony’s disappointment, their team failed to work as a unit to get matters through. Science though small in size played this game with their hearts. The try off the little man Rohan testifies this. Science College award themselves with a well earned win this evening as the hopes of the Science fans live on while St. Anthony’s College will need to work on their fine touches to get a win in the next two games.
Science College’s key to success this evening was their energetic line and the real test will be when they will be facing Trinity College in a fortnight whose line is equally talented. St. Anthony’s College with their new assistant Mothilal Jayethilake together with Priyantha Gunaratna will need to work hard as the next two games is a must win for them.
ThePapare Man of the Match : Science College Skipper L. Karunathilake
Full time score: Science College 34 – 27 St. Anthony’s College
Science College 36 (3G 3T)
Tries by L. Karunathilake (3), Sajith Rohan, R.D. Silva (2), Conversions X3 by A.T. Maduranga
St. Anthony’s College 27 (2G 2T 1P)
Tries by Dinuk Amerasinghe, R.S.A. Maduwanka, A.J Seelagama (2)
Conversions X2 + Penalty by R.S.A. Maduwanka. Maduwanka 12 points in total
It was disappointing to see referee Aruna Rankothge being lashed out in harsh speech after the game by a few spectators as the sport should be cherished in true spirit and virtue.
