Royal remained unbeaten in the Schools Rugby League 2015 when they overcame a spirited Josephian outfit by 25 (3T, 2C, 2P) points to 22 (3T,2C,1P) in a nail-biting encounter worked out at Royal Complex on Saturday evening.
The unbeaten Royalists were expected to have a walk in the park against the underdogs from Darley Road but the Josephians were up for the challenge right from the kick off made by W. Ashok. The hosts took the early lead in the 3rd minute courtesy Ovin Askey who bisected the uprights from a 25-meter penalty kick after the visitors were infringed for not releasing the tackled player on the ground. (Royal 03 – Joes 00)
Joes responded swiftly after the Royalists were infringed for the same mistake done by Joes earlier. Vice-captain and reliable place-kicker Shamilka Kurumbalapitiya struck a 35-meter kick beautifully to level the scores. (Royal 03 – Joes 03)
St. Joseph’s took the Royalists by surprise when their winger Suneth Chathuranga charged down a kick in the 9th minute and made the hosts give away a penalty for holding onto the ball. Nippy scrum-half Vimukthi Rahula took a quick tap and sliced through the Royal defense like a knife through butter to score the first try of the match. Shamilka made no mistakes with the conversion. (Royal 03 – Joes 10)
As the digital clock on top of the scoreboard read 13 minutes, Josephian center Romesh ‘Cheetah’ Priyankara broke through the Royal mid-field defense convincingly and darted his way towards the right corner flag to score a terrific try. Shamilka added the extra points with a fine kick to extend the lead. (Royal 03 – Joes 17)
The famous ‘Royal’ line out and driving maul failed to gain momentum twice which disrupted Royal’s plans but the big Josephian prop forward, Stephan Gregory was yellow carded for collapsing the maul. With one man advantage, the dangerous Royal rolling maul worked out perfectly in the 30th minute of the match as the league’s top try-scorer Supun Warnakulasuriya added one more try under his name. Ovin Askey missed the conversion. (Royal 08 – Joes 17)
Royal kept on hammering at the Josephian defense but the boys in blue and white defended ferociously but their line of defense was breached once again in the 35th minute when the Royal winger, Mahima Gamage dived over the big white line in the far corner. Ovin Askey converted superbly to cut down the deficit. (Royal 15 – Joes 17)
As the game was heading towards the half-time break, Joes received a penalty within kickable range but they did not utilize it but Royal received a penalty right in front of the posts and Ovin Askey made sure Royal went into the break with a one-point lead.
Half-Time: Royal 18 (2T, 1C, 2P) – St. Joseph’s 17 (2T,2C, 1P)
After the resumption, Shamilka Kurumbalapitiya started off the proceedings. Both teams made handling errors in the first ten minutes of the second half which slowed down the game drastically.
The Josephians found themselves way inside the Royal 22 plenty of times, but they lacked finishing touches as the Royal defense stood strong. Joes clearly found the weak link in the Royal back line which is their inexperienced back three and they continued kicking over their shoulders to gain territorial advantage.
As the game headed into the final quarter, Royal took the upper hand in the game with their forwards barging into the Joes 22’ and they infiltrated the Joes defense with their scrum-half W Ashok scoring under the posts. Ovin Askey converted. (Royal 25 – Joes 17)
The visitors needed some inspiration to come back into the game after their last score was way back in the 13th minute. The Josephians countered the Royal try with a brilliant try in the 68th minute by winger Vinul Fernando who neatly made an inside step to touch down in the corner.
Shamilka Kurumbalapitiya missed the conversion. (Royal 25 – Joes 22)
The pendulum slowly swung towards the visitors in the final 10 minutes and Royal played the safe and tactical game using the forwards and making sure the Josephians did not get their hands on the ball. Taariq Salih and his boys tried hard but they could not surge a comeback try to win the game as Royal held on to a scrappy win.
Royal outfit was clearly exposed by the determined Josephians in a cracking game but from a Royal’s point of view, they would take it as an acid test before the all-important title decider with Isipathana College next weekend. St. Joseph’s had two moderate outings in the past two weeks but this time around they played their hearts out to almost crash the Royal party.
Full-Time: Royal 25 (3T, 2C, 2P) – St. Joseph’s 22 (3T,2C,1P)
Referee – Priyantha Gunarathne
ThePapare Player of the Match – Romesh Priyankara (SJC) and Keshan Peiris (RC)
Points Scorers – Royal
Supun Warnakulasooriya 5 points (1 try), Mahima Gamage 5 points (1 try), W Ashok 5 points (1 try), Ovin Askey 10 points (2 conversions and 2 penalties)
Points Scorers – St. Joseph’s
Vimukthi Rahula 5 points (1 try), Romesh Priyankara 5 points (1 try), Vinul Fernando 5 points (1 try) , Shamilka Kurumbalapitiya 7 points (2 conversions and 1 penalty)
