Royal College registered their first league victory over Kingswood College 13-07 in a lackluster game.
The Reid Avenue boys managed to put up an improved performance to last weeks’ match against Science with Udesh Ranaweera and Pasindu Perera scoring the tries.An encounter which was crucial for both teams in their quest to recording their first league victory, it was the Royalists who settled down the earliest. The home team put up a contrasting performance in the first ten minutes as they opted to use their forwards in attack and looked dangerous.
However, it seemed too soon to see a great improvement from the last game as the knock- ons and unforced errors started to mount for Royal, but Kingswood failed to capitalize on the resulting possession they received.
Both sides, had a terrible patch with neither team able to capitalize, the Kings kept kicking the ball out of play in crucial positions when they should have retained possession, while the Royalists were plagued with handling errors.
The game remained scoreless well past the 20 minute mark as scrappy play dominated proceedings. However, the first bit of proper rugby in the game, where Royal managed to work the line saw winger Udesh Ranweera sprinting on the left wing, to score the first points of the game much to the relief of the home side. Rimze Jamaldeen failed to add the extra points off a difficult attempt.
But, the mistake- plagued Royal looked easily fazed in defense, and again lack of communication seemed to be the order of the day. After a Kings scrum, off an initial knock- on at the line out by Royal, the boys from the hill country rampaged forward using their forwards and backs in tandem. After a flurry of quick recycles, the Royal defense was bunched up in the middle, leaving acres of space on both sides. It was B.A. Priyankara who saw the hole through the middle of the defense, and plunged through to score right beside the post, as the conversion by K.N. Perera which followed put the visitors ahead with just a few minutes left for half time.
The conceded try, woke up the Royalist who found their way back into their opponents twenty-two and found space, only to score a disallowed try, as there had been another knock- on in the process. But the pressure built on the Kings after, saw the referee awarding a penalty to the Royalists, which forced Rimze to opt for points. A kick from the far left, seemed to be an optimistic call by the captain, but Rimze slotted the ball through the posts, displaying his class, and taking Royal to half time, with a slim one point lead.
Half Time: Royal 08 v Science 07
The second half started off quite eventfully, with a Kingswoodian dangerously tackling a Royalist who was in mid air, eventually falling flat on his face. Rightfully, the referee produced a yellow card that left the Kings with 14 men on the field.
Royal failed to capitalize on the extra man situation, as Bhanuka Gamage was soon sent off to the sin bin for an infringement leaving equal numbers for both teams on the field. Bhanuka, did not have a great game, as he failed to link up with the line as well as he could, opting to go by himself on many occasions, in some situations conceding possession as well.
The half was marred with scrappy play from both sides once again, and would have not been the best of games to view in terms of spectator interest.
The home team attacked the most in this half, and nearly going on to score after a brilliant break by captain Rimze, but the ball was held up once Pasindu Perera went over the line by a watchful Kings defense.
However, the resulting scrum led to another flurry of attacks by the Royal forwards, as Rimze linked up with the No. 08 Pasindu once again, and this time Royal managed to sneak through to give the home supporters a bit of breathing space.
This try, put the game to bed as the Kings failed to come up with threatening offensive work as the clock ran out. Spectators at the ground definitely were left wanting for more quality rugby, as the game failed to live upto expectations considering the rugby history of both schools.
Full Time: Royal 13 v Kingswood 07
