St. Joseph’s College convincingly beat DS Senanayake College notching up a dozen tries, scoring 72-10 in the final week of round one in the Singer schools rugby league 2017.
The game kicked off amidst decent weather conditions with the DS lads kicking things off on their home turf for this season.
The Josephians made three changes, two in the forward pack and a single change in the back line.
The game was predicted to be a walkover for the Josephians as the Dons were struggling to shut out opponents conceding more than 30 points in each game.
Points for the visitors was scored off the opening attack of the game as predicted pre-match. Sachith Silva used his vision to good effect, chipping and chasing with space in behind the DS defense. The Josephians were handed a penalty try as the winger was cynically taken out in chase of his own kick. Silva, himself added the extras from in front. (DS 00-07 SJC)
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The hosts looked optimistic following the score but failed to string phases together as their attack failed to click.
A total of eight tries was scored by the lads from Maradana in the first half that weighed heavily in their favour.
Tries from K.D Kavindu, Chathura Seneviratne and a double from Sachith Silva in the first thirty minutes meant the Josephian knocked the wind out of the sails of the Dons. Silva had a 50% conversion rate for the four tries. (DS 00-31 SJC)
The try scoring trend continued in the first stanza as the Josephian dominated and put the game to bed.
The Dons set piece suffered throughout the game as the Josephians dominated all aspects of the game.
Shevon Gregory was a beneficiary of a lovely line out move by the Josephians following a line out. Sachith continued to impress with the boot converting with ease. (DS 00-38 SJC)
Fly half Seneviratne and fullback Gemunu Chethiya, who had an impressive outing scored as the visitors reached the half century as the first half drew to an end to put DS out of their misery.
Half time: DS Senanayake 00 – 50 (8T 5C) St. Joseph’s
The first was dominated by the Josephians as the hosts managed just three attacks as they failed to enter the red zone (22M) on a single occasion.
The Dons inside centre Hasindu Hemasiri had an opportunity to open the scoring but failed with a straightforward opportunity.
Sachith Silva scored his hat-trick as the Josephian back line brought on the razzle dazzle. He made no mistake adding the extras. (DS 00-57 SJC)
Sameesha Viranga was the next to get his name in the score sheet as he benefited off more swift and stylish back line work. Silva failed with the conversion. (DS 00-62 SJC)
Matters went from bad to worse as M. Pathirana saw yellow for a high tackle inside the Joes 22 meter.
Player of the game, Sachith Silva added to his points tally on the day as he added insult to injury, scoring off the resulting high tackle penalty. He failed to add the extras. (DS 00-67 SJC)
The visiting Josephians switched off following the accumulation of points as DS got their first points of the game. Captain Gavin Perera scored following three phases off a 5 meter scrum. Hasindu Hemasiri added the extras from beside the upright. (DS 07-67 SJC)
A niggling injury which kept captain Vinul Fernando out did not seem to hamper him as he came on and scored the twelfth try for his team. The winger displayed a good turn of pace, running through the heart of the DS defence to score. Seneviratne failed to add the extras off the tee. (DS 07-72 SJC)
Centre Hemasiri added a consolation penalty to take the DS score into double figures on the stroke of full time.
Full time: St. Joseph’s 72 (12T 6C) beat DS Senanayake 10 (1T 1C 1P)
Thepapare.com Player of the match: Sachith Silva (SJC Winger)
Points Breakdown:
Joes: Penalty Try, K.D Kavinda, Chathura Seneviratne 2T, Sachith Silva 4T, 6C, Shevon Gregory, Gemunu Chethiya, Sameesha Viranga, Vinul Fernando
DS: Gavin Perera, Hasindu Hemasiri 1C, 1P
