It was a gloomy but perfect evening for fast running rugby, the ideal conditions for Kingswood to unleash their lethal backs. And straight away from the kick-off, the visitors showed dominance after scoring two early tries. After receiving the ball from a well-executed scrum inside the Thomian ’22, #14 Dakshina Athukorala opened the scoring, going over in the far corner 10 minutes into the game.
Following that, 5 minutes later, #9 Hirusha Sampath crashed through the opposition #9 and #10 channel, sucking in both defenders and offloading it to Asiri Senavirathne who jotted the ball down under the post. Sampath only managed to slot one of the two conversions successfully.
The next 20 minutes saw Kingswood show-off their skillful offloads and pacey three-quarter moves but, just failed to get those final passes right which prevented them from scoring. However, fortune favoured the Thomians as they capitalized on the visitor’s errors and got off the mark with a three pointer by Ovin Hettiarachchi 10 minutes before lemons. Despite being on the back-foot in terms of ball handling, S. Thomas’ managed to score their first try through Rehan Olugala, at the brink of half time. With a numerical advantage up their sleeves, Olugala had no man to beat, but just jot the ball down in the far corner.
Half-time: STC trailed 08 – 12 KCK
It was that 10 minute break which made the difference for the Thomians yet again as Coach Shamly’s pep talk proved to be another match winning speech. Lashandra De Silva got his side off to a flying start with a converted try in the 38th minute and put his team in the lead for the first time. Not absorbing the pressure too well, the Kingswood players committed unforced errors which resulted in yellow cards and penalties which allowed the Thomians to extend their lead. However, before the try that sealed the game, Kingswoodian winger Ishan Preena scored a five-pointer that put his team in a two point lead with 15 minutes on the clock.
It was a race against time for Harith Senanayake and his troops which they eventually won after showing great grit and spirit. Winning a lineout in center field and foxing the defence by going on the blind side led to that match winning try by Senuk Perera. A combined effort of Kaveen Jayasekara, Dunal Fernando and Perera, put S. Thomas’ on the top as Hettiarachchi added the extra two. Although Kingswood kept on fighting till the end, it was a little too late. As a chip kick by Kingswood #12 went out on the full, Referee Rohan Fernando blew the final whistle.
Full time: STC won 22 (3T 2C 1P) – 17 KCK (3T 1C)
Breakdown STC
Tries: Rehan Olugala, Senuk Perera, Lashandra De Silva
Conversions: Ovin Hettiarachchi 2
Penalties: Ovin Hettiarachchi 1
Score Breakdown KCK
Tries: Dakshina Athukorala , Asiri Senevirathna, Ishan Preena
Conversion: Hirusha Sampath 1
Bookings: Mohommed Shazan, Nipun Senevirathne
Referee: Rohan Fernando
Player of the Match: Harith Senanayake (STC)
