The defending champions, St. Joseph’s College comfortably defeated Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala by 45-17 in the first quarterfinal of the Milo President’s Trophy 2018 at Sugathadasa Stadium today.
On a rainy evening, the Josephians planted 7 tries and converted 5 of them while the lads from Kurunegala scored 3 tries and 1 conversion. The winners led 28-07 at half-time.
The Josephians who ended up as the runner-up in the league rested a couple of players due to injuries but had most of the starters from their regular side coming into this game.
Skipper Sameesha Virangana kicked off proceedings from left to right. The blue & white boys found rhythm early on when scrum-half Udeesha Perera spotted a gap and squeezed through to touch down under the posts. Fly-half Santhush Algama easily added the extra points. (St. Joseph’s 07 – 00 Maliyadeva)
The Devans hit back to level the scores in the 13th minute when they found enough possession and territory to let winger Sanju Herath run through and score their first try in the far corner. Full back Ishara Herath converted brilliantly. (St. Joseph’s 07 – 07 Maliyadeva)
The boys from Darley Road used their heavy forwards to gain territory and possession on a damp field and number eight John Ganegoda took them to the lead in the 20th minute with a fine try. Algama had no problems with the conversion. (St. Joseph’s 14 – 07 Maliyadeva)
Five minutes later, the star full back of St. Joseph’s, Gemunu Chethiya was too hard to stop as he ran around the Maliyadeva defense to extend the lead with a brilliant individual try. Algama added the extra points with ease to maintain a healthy record with the boot. (St. Joseph’s 21 – 07 Maliyadeva)
As the game was heading to the half-hour mark, the Devans were penalized for off-side and the Josephian center Kavinda Keshan took a quick-tap and off-loaded to winger Tharindu Maduranga who ran through the defense to score the final try of the first half. Algama continued his good work with the boot. (St. Joseph’s 28 – Maliyadeva 07)
Before the half-time whistle, Maliyadeva number 12, Kaveen Dahanaka was yellow-carded for an infringement around the ruck as they were restricted to only 14 players heading into the sheds.
Half-time: St. Joseph’s 28 – Maliyadeva 07
After lemons, Ishara Herath restarted the game. The Josephians continued to dominate the game as Ganegoda went onto score his second try in the far corner which was not converted by Algama. (St. Joseph’s 33 – 07 Maliyadeva 07)
The Josephians brought in the replacements slowly to give game time for their young players and their replacement center Imesh Dissanayake was sent to the ‘naughty chair’ in the 48th minute of the match for a dangerous tackle.
Coach Nilfer Ibrahim emptied the bench in the final 15 minutes of the match as flanker Nehan Perera barged over for another to extend the massive lead. Algama added the extra points as Maliyadeva College defense was caught napping. (St. Joseph’s 40 – 07 Maliyadeva)
The Devans used the one-man advantage perfectly as they finally got their act together to find holes in the Josephian defense in the final few minutes.
Sanju Herath went onto score his second try followed by a try from their nippy scrum-half Dilshan Atapattu as the Josephians made clinical errors in defense. Both tries were not converted by Ishara Herath. (St. Joseph’s 40 – 17 Maliyadeva)
With the light fading, St. Joseph’s scored the final score of the match when winger Tharindu Maduranga took a quick-tap deep inside the Maliyadeva 22’ and powered his way in style to score the 7th try for the defending champions.
Full-time: St. Joseph’s College 45 (7T, 5C) – Maliyadeva College 17 (3T, 1C)
Referee – Priya Suranga
ThePapare Man of the Match – Santhush Algama (SJC)
Score breakdown
St. Joseph’s – John Ganegoda 10 points (2 tries), Santhush Algama 10 points (5 conversions), Tharindu Maduranga 10 points (2 tries), Udeesha Perera 5 points (1 try), Gemunu Chethiya 5 points (1 try) and Nehan Perera 5 points (1 try)
Maliyadeva – Sanju Herath 10 points (2 tries), Dilshan Atapattu 5 points (1 try) and Ishara Herath 2 points (1 conversion)
Cautions – Yellow Cards: Imesh Dissanayake (SJC), Kaveen Dahanaka (MCK)
