St. Joseph’s College booked their place in the Final of the Presidents Trophy, defeating Wesley College 16 (1T 1C 3P) – 13 (2T 1P) in a tightly contested Semi-final played at Havelock Park.
The Josephians made a couple of changes, one in the forwards and one in the backs, as Isuru Kanchana replaced Mandara Amarasinghe to bolster the running game.
Both teams found it difficult to adapt to the wet conditions as the heavens opened up early on at the Park.
Wesley were the only team to score in the first half, as the Josephians squandered chance after chance to get on the scoreboard.
Nithila Sanwidu Rodrigo finished off in the corner following good hands by the Wesley backline, midway during the first 35.
Shaveen Jayawardena failed with the extras as the Wesley fences continued to hold firm, even though they went down a man for continuous infringements.
Half Time: St. Joseph’s College 00 trail 05 (1T) Wesley College
With a chance at silverware on the line, the Josephians came out with their intentions clear, scoring twice off the boot of Dilhara Subash early on in the second half and putting the Josephians in front for the first time. (SJC 06-05 WC)
The lads from St. Joseph’s College continued on their merry way with another score through Jehan Athukorala. Dilhara Subash continued his good form off the tee, adding the extras to take the Josephians out of the 7-point range. (SJC 13-05 WC)
With time running out and the game seemingly getting away from Wesley College, they mounted a comeback of sorts. With the momentum turning on its head, Jayawardena scored a penalty with minutes left to cut the deficit to 5 points.
Jayawardena alongside Tharusha Jayaweera spun their magic, making something out of nothing to score and level things after the hooter.
Jayawardena had the opportunity to kick Wesley into the final: however, his conversion from the sideline failed to pierce the posts, taking the game into sudden death, extra time.
Full Time: St. Joseph’s College 13 (1T 1C 2P) tie with Wesley College 13 (2T 1P)
With nothing to separate the two sides after 70 minutes, sudden death kicked off.
Wesley continued with the momentum. However, the Josephian defence held firm to deflect any attack and won a penalty of their own to give themselves an opportunity to win it. But unfortunately, Ruchitha Rodrigo could not bisect the posts.
The second stanza of extra time was similar to the first, with the early momentum with the Double Blues.
However, with the pressure on, Wesley failed to make any impact as penalties mounted against them, giving a ray of hope to the Josephians.
Rodrigo received his second chance but squandered it again, hitting the post. The rebound was collected by Sachinthana as he set up camp in the Wesley 22. This attack from the Josephians won advantage after advantage to give the Blue and White a chance to win it.
Rodrigo stepped up and he made no mistake at the third time of asking, pounding the ball over to send St. Joseph’s through to the final against Isipathana College.
After Extra-time – St. Joseph’s College 16 (1T 1C 3P) beat Wesley College 13 (2T 1P)
- NDB Player of the Match: Sachithra Lanka (SJC Lock forward)
Points Breakdown:
- St. Joseph’s College: Dilhara Subash 1C, 2P, Jehan Athukorala 1T, Ruchitha Rodrigo 1P
- Wesley College: Nithila Sanwidu Rodrigo 1T, Tharusha Jayaweera 1T, Shaveen Jayawardena 1P
 - 13 (2T 1P) in a tightly contested Semi-final played at Havelock Park.){kind=link}