S.Thomas’ College came out firing on all cylinders to beat the fancied Peterites 25-17 at Bamba this evening.
The traditional game played in memory of late Archibald Perera saw the trophy going back to Mount Lavina after a lapse of 5 years when the gutty Thomians picking up from where they left off vs the Joes outplayed the favorites St.Peter’s in front of a despondent home crowd.
The game kicked off when the Thomian fly half made the first mistake of the afternoon by not kicking the ball 10 meters from the mark. Then St.Peter’s playing minus their star skipper Kevin Kutty opted to take a scrum at the centre. However they could not keep the procession of the ball for a few phases due to some super defending by the Thomians.
The first points for the board came off a penalty goaled by the Thomian kicker for an infringement made by the Peterites inside their own 22. The three point lead for the Mt Lavinia boys was short lived as a stolen ball from the Peterite centre Avishka Ranasinghe went lose off the ruck and was picked up by M.H. Peiris who dived over the line. The Peterite fly half Sandesh Jayawickrama missed the conversion and the scores were 5 – 3 in favour of the home team.
It was quite evident that the Thomians were playing the majority of the game through their forwards. This tactic gave the Thomian No 8 Sachith Jayathilaka the first try for his team when he picked up a ball off a ruck and barged his way over to take the lead back again with 8 points to 5.
Thomian coach Jeewan Gunathilleka had done his homework as the Blue, Black brigade heavily marked the Peterite play makers Nishon Perera and Diyath Fernando before Diyath Fernando left the field due to an injury.
Peterite scrum half Fernando had a very good game and fed ball for their speedy backs. However lack of timely off loads and selfish play cost them a few tries in some good attacking moves.
Then came the try of the first half, when Peterite fly half Sandesh Jayawickrama spotted a gap and chipped the ball towards an empty space for his acting captain Nishon Perera to cruise away to the try line. Yet again the conversion was missed as the referee blew for lemons. Scores were 10 -8 with Petes leading.
The second half got underway as the Petes increased their score to 17 points when Nishon Perera off loaded to his winger Harshana Peiris and collected an inside pass back again to touch down under post. Sandesh made no mistake in the conversion putting his team in the lead.
The Thomians hit back immediately with a try when they won a 5m lineout where their burly forward Senanayake shoved his way to the try line off few phases of advantage play for collapsing a maul. Thomians were still trailing 13 to 17.
The turning point came off next when the boys from Mount scored off a fabulous blind side three quarter move as Jayathillaka scored his second try of the game diving near the left corner. The Thomian fly half Ferdinando made no mistake thrusting the visitors in the lead 20 -17.
The Peterite bench made two tactical changes for their team soon after, as their skipper Kevin Kutty Dixon came to the field with young Harin Biyanwila. Of course Kutty’s entry made some impact for his team as he almost ran through the entire Thomian defence with his signature style zig-zag and goose step by collecting a kick inside the 40m. But his boys could not capitalize on this move as they gave away a penalty for crashing down in a ruck with Referee Rankoth sending Biyanwila to sin bin.
With the clock ticking, the Petes could not hold the important ball procession as the visitors capitalized on this and opted to run the ball punching holes in the Peterite defence line. A good three quarter move from the 50m gave the Thomians their final try of the evening to seal the game when their winger Kankaanamge ran almost 40m around the corner brushing away a few defenders to touch down on the right side.
The Thomian supporters celebrated as they regained the Archibald Perera memorial trophy which they last held in 2009 at the same venue.
Hats off to S.Thomas’s for a brilliant performance in the last 2 games coming back to the second round with some heavy defeats in their first few outings. On the other hands the Peterites have much to analyse where they went wrong after performing so well in their last 2 games against Royal while winning the Trinity game after trailing 20 nil.
Full time : STC 25 ( T4 C1 P1 ) – SPC 17 ( T3 C1 )
