Science College produced a clinical performance as they ran in five tries to obliterate S.Thomas’ College 29-07 in their Singer League group A match played at the Science College grounds. Science College put further misery on a disjointed Thomian side who suffered their second successive heavy loss after they were beaten 44-12 at the hands of St.Peter’s last week.
The Thomians hadn’t learnt their lesson from last week where their defense was all at sea and the hosts taking advantage of the opportunity punched holes in the Thomian defense at will. Science who were also on a back from a loss of their own against Kingswood at Kandy, settled down early in this Mount Lavinia derby and were cheered on by their raucous home crowd.
The Thomians who were without their experienced full back Ezra Ibrahim dominated territory in the opening 10 minutes but couldn’t find a way through the organized Science defense. The first time Science came into the opposition territory they went away with seven points as left wing R.D. Silva turned on the gas and skipped past the defense to score a try under the posts. Ruvin Fernando added the extra points. (07-00)
S.Thomas’ bounced back quickly in the 20th minute with a try by Udawatta who scored near the posts after his forwards did the bulk of the work building the attack with multiple phases. The Thomians playing some structured rugby with their forwards proved fruitful something that was not seen against the Petes last week. Fly half Hans Walpola converted to tie the game. (07-07)
Science College however came back strongly with their backs running the show and they had themselves to blame as they conceded unnecessary penalties a couple of times with the try line meters away to let the visitors out of jail. Then with the last play of the first half a fast break by fly half Sahan Wijayasiri down the right and nifty ball handling saw M.Ayeshmantha score a try near the corner flag. Ruvin Fernando missed the difficult conversion. (12-07)
Straight after halftime Science lads were at it again this time through I.Viraj who barged over for the third try by the hosts. Fernando added the extra points. (19-07)
In the 58th minute Sahan Wijayasiri who was the facilitator for the earlier try scored a try of his own near the corner flag to stretch the lead to 17 points. The Science College backline played some enterprising rugby throughout the 80 minutes and the Thomians had no answer against these fast backs. Ruvin Fernando again missed the conversion (24-07)
The Thomians needed a quick reply but they were frustrated by the cohesive Science defense led by their star player Lasindu Karunathilaka who had an outstanding game in defense and offense. The Sri Lanka U18 player who usually plays at No.08 played at loose head, a tactical switch by Science College to counter the heavier Thomian pack. It paid dividends as the Science scrums held up well against the pressure and gave quick ball to their backs.
Minutes before the final whistle to put the icing on the cake and a cherry on top Lasindu Karunathilaka manhandled three Thomian forwards on his way to the try line. It was a beastly bit of rugby by Lasindu much like Omalka Gunarathna, the Isipathana No.08, both with similar physique and strength who can tear apart any defense single handedly. Referee Irshad Cader put S.Thomas’ out of their misery as he blew for full time with the scores 29-07.
ThePapare Player of the Match : Lasindu Karunathilaka
