A second half rally by the Black Gold’s DS Senanayake College was not sufficient to get them through to the victory mark as they fell short by a single point as Welsey College scraped through a 12-11 victory to stay unbeaten in the plate segment.
Misjudgment and poor decisions taken by DS cost them the victory in the dying stages of the game when the losing team were awarded two consecutive penalties in their 22 meter which they opted for clearance and later a kickable 22m penalty which the DS full back Piyarathne opted to run single- handedly
Earlier in the game, the double blues Wesley College started off matters in style as Omar Kutubdeen’s team scored in the very first phases. A breakthrough by the Wesley lock forward Thimira Ananda allowed Goonethilake to score on the far right to draw first blood. Kutubdeen’s successful 44m conversion got the hosts up by seven points.
Pressure was building on the visitors, DS Senanayaka College as their failure in almost 90% of the line outs made the Wesley forwards to move forward. Though the hosts had the legs to move forward in attack, they lacked in execution with two tries being knocked on at the try line. Lemons was called by referee D. Nimal with Wesley College leading in this plate encounter with their single converted try with the Dons yet to open their scoring. (7-0)
Wesley got them once again in the try scoring mode in the second half utilizing their forward mauls. The Wesley pack despite the weight factor was able to push through their counterparts finding themselves in attacking territory. Scrum half Murshid Doray’s option to go the three quarters became a successful stint as Thimira Ananda found himself scoring the second. With the conversion going astray, the Weslyites got their lead extended by five (12-0).
The struggling opponents who have been put in such a situation for the first time in the league, finally opted to go for points to drift away from their point-less drought. With Mohamed Subair getting the kick straight on an easy in line penalty, DS were three points up (12-3).
The game saw the excitement bounce back when the visitors DS Senanayake finally found their luck as they worked their three’s in a 5 meter penalty as wing three Vishal scored on the outside (12-8). Vishal’s kick went unconverted but gave the Dons the motivation to fight back.
DS successfully got another penalty through off the boots of Ashroff to cut the deficit to two points in the third quarter of the second half (12-11). The game progressed to the final stages without a clear victor still seen. The lack of judgment shown by DS in going for clearance in the dying stages of the game on a penalty which they could have run was a clear misjudgment and later on with the referee noting it will be the last phase, the Dons opted to run a 22m kickable penalty which would have given them victory.
Wesley were successful enough to survive another close encounter and register their second victory in the Plate Division. DS Senanayaka finally ends their unbeaten streak in the B division and in the Plate championships but hopes still remain for the team to look at a prospective advancement to the first division next season.
Full Time – Wesley 12 (2T 1C) to DS 11 ( 1T 2P)
