The traditional rugby encounter between St Josephs College Maradana and St Thomas College Mt Lavinia was held today at Havelock sports club grounds.
This encounter promised a great deal of excitement and thrill as the spirited Joes lead by the gargantuan lock forward Jason Melder took on the invigorated Thomian outfit lead by dynamic outside half Devin Jayasinghe fresh from their conquest of the B division forging rights to claim the coveted Lady Jayathileke memorial trophy.
From the very first whistle both teams were in it to win; delivering the promised excitement which left the crowds enthralled. The Josephians came in to the game with the utmost physical of approaches as they used their credited forwards unit to the maximum in the early stages of the game. The Joes drew first blood by mauling over the Thomians try line off a line out. However the conversion by Kurumbulapitya went rogue swerving past the uprights.
The Thomians reply was far from docile as full back Aathif Jawarth and scrum -half Asanga Ranasinghe liked exceptionally to create the first glimpse of turbulence that the Thomain backs were bent on unleashing. However following a series of good hands and chemistry ,the Josephian rocket man winger Janith came through for his team as he scorched the grass to score a dazzling try from the corner flag to under the posts and S Kurumbulapitiya had no trouble lobbying over the conversion to put his team ahead.
The Thomians crept on to the score sheet as Devin effortlessly put over a penalty conceded by the Josephians who were found guilty of ‘hands in the ruck’.
Not long before the half time mark, it was the Thomian outside center and senior man Hashaka Senanayake who threw coal in the Thomian engine, scoring a try in by the right corner flag after a dozen laborious phases of testing the mettle of the Joes boys.
HALF TIME 14-12 JOES LEADING
The Thomian’s came in to the second half of the game with a fervor that grew with each passing phase. Whilst the Joes seemed hell bent on securing the Lady Jayathilake for another year.
Devin who had a good first half of the game came in to the second half as if he had not tied up his kicking boots; misjudging a kick to touch and misplacing another. Whoever the hullabaloo was soon forgotten as he played the architect to many fine segments of rugby that were continuously propelled at the opposition.
The first touchdown of the second half came from Senanayake who sold a dummy that was ‘to die for ‘ as he scored his second for the match and the veteran Devin had no trouble adding the conversion to the score sheet.
Here onwards the Thomians were in full motion transforming every possible option in to an attacking alternative. Until the Josephians managed to upset their groove by scoring a try through their hefty prop forward who went lumbering over the try line. However young Kurumbulapitiya was yet again un successful with the conversion.
The flow of the home side was broken by this try but instead of aggressive attack they mounted wave after wave of picturesque running rugby dished out by the Thomians. It was time for the “Hashaka and Jawwa” show. Both were instrumental in keeping the Joes on the back foot as they displayed great harmony with their team mates and mastery over their territory and task.
The dying stages of the game saw a barrage of tries being scored by the Thomains; by the burly inside center Nayanesh Jirasinghe and prodigious prop Malinda Deshapriya.
It must be mentioned that the Josephians delivered a stellar performance even though they fell short of victory. Captain Melder made his presence felt as he was relentless in his attempts to breach the Thomian wall of “grit”
The match was won by the school by the sea 39-17
ThPapare managed to capture a word with the over joyed Thomian coach Mr Grant Dwyer who had this to say “this win was just a piece on a big puzzle. The boys showed a lot of guts and belief in themselves and the desire to win is stronger than ever and this is just a step in the journey ahead. And it’s the long hours of hard work that we have all put in that are reaping rewards now”
The Thomians continue to prove and have surpassed the need to prove to Lankan sports fans that they are a force to be reckoned with in the schools rugby arena and that the not so long ago labeled “joke” from the B division bring with them a not so funny punch line.
