14-man S. Thomas’ College were their own worst enemy as they defeated Kingwood College 28-17 in the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2023 game played at the Big Club Grounds in Mount Lavinia.
Both sides started off with unforced errors, but Mahith Perera’s brilliance saw him break the Kingswood defensive line and go under the post for the first try of the game. Yehan Bulathsinghalage’s easy conversion made it 7-0 for the hosts.
>>Photos – S.Thomas’ College v Kingswood College | Dialog Schools Rugby League 2023<<
A move from the training grounds and some swift hands took the score to 14-0, with Skipper Viyaan De Silva going over the whitewash and Bulathsinghalage converting. The momentum shifted in Kingswood’s favour as Viyaan De Silva knocked-on from the restart.
The Thomians’ Reshane Dwight was sent to the sin bin as Imanka Ishara scored a penalty to make it 14-3. The Randles Hill boys dominated proceedings, and Dwight received his 2nd yellow card and was sent-off as soon as he came back on.
Kingswood rolled on to take advantage of the 14-man S. Thomas’, with T. Ishara scoring a try from point blank range. Imanka Ishara’s conversion made it 14-10 at half time.
Half Time: S. Thomas’ 14 (2T, 2C) – Kingswood 10 (1T, 1C, 1P)
The 2nd half started with errors again from both sides. D. Rasanjana received a yellow card as Kingswood went down to 14-men in the 38th min. After some back and forth play, the side-stepping Perera scored his 2nd try from 15-meters out, and Bulathsinghalage converted to give some relief for the hosts.
However, the relief was short lived, as indecision and delay in taking a line-out forced referee to award a free-kick to Kingswood, who worked their backs to score a scintillating try under the posts, which was finished off by R. S. Bawdween. Ishara’s conversion, again, made it a 4-point game (21-17).
Kingswood failed to take advantage of some plays, and the Thomians put faith in their forwards to score their 4th try in the 61st minute. It was L. S. Perera who kissed the try-line against the Kingswood forwards from close range after multiple phases. Bulathsinghalage kept his 100% record with an easy conversion to make it 28-17.
Kingswood were still in the game as S. Thomas’ made unforced errors, while the referee finally had enough with the back chatting Shenal Fernando, and gave him a yellow card in the 66th minute. The lads from Kandy were not able to benefit against the resilient 13-man S. Thomas’, who defended their hearts out even against their own mistakes.
Full Time: S. Thomas’ 28 (4T, 4C) – Kingswood 17 (2T, 2C, 1P)
NDB Player of the Match – Mahith Perera (STC)
Points Scorers
S.Thomas’ – Mahith Perera (2T), Viyaan De Silva (1T), L. S. Perera (1T), Yehan Bulathsinghalage (4C)
Kingswood – T. Ishara (1T), R. S. Bawdween (1T), Imanka Ishara (2C & 1P)
