St. Joseph’s College defeated arch rivals St. Peter’s College winning 25-10 in their home turf in a stop start affair, earlier today.
St. Peter’s fly half Stephan Sivraj kicked off on a scorching evening at St. Peter’s grounds in Bambalapitiya.
The game was tipped to be an enthralling encounter but the first few exchanges displayed an entirely different story as both teams took their time to find their feet in this crunch encounter.
Both teams had early opportunities to get the score board ticking but failed with rather straightforward efforts.
Sachith Silva, a rather surprising option as kicker stepped up with the boot for the Joes as he slotted home from in front of the posts after the Peterite defense was caught offside. (SPC 00-03 SJC)
Fellow winger Shan Akila scored the first try of the game as he was beneficiary of some good work by the Josephian forward pack. Silva converted, stretching the Josephian lead to 10 points. (SPC 00-10 SJC)
The hosts squandered one final attack, summing up a scrappy first half for both teams.
Half time: St. Peter’s College 00 – St. Joseph’s College 10 (1T 1C 1P)
The visitors were dealt a massive blow early on in the half as skipper Vinul Fernando was taken off due to an injury.
M.V Mohideen saw yellow for continuous infringements and it was a double whammy for St. Peter’s as Silva slotted through from in front to extend the visitors lead from the resulting penalty. (SPC 00-13 SJC)
The bulky Josephian forward pack dominated scrums from the onset, managing points off the set piece. Chathura Senevirathne had an off day with the boot missing from out wide. (SPC 00-18 SJC)
Points seemed to flow following the hour mark as the home team scored to get their score board ticking.
R.P Fernando scored a poacher’s try as the nippy halfback pounced on the loose ball as the visitors switched off following their second try. Sivaraj had a day to forget as he failed with yet another kick. (SPC 05-18 SJC)
The home team managed back to back tries as Bilal Hilmy scored to bring back some hope for the Peterites and their fans. The touch line conversion was missed by Sivaraj as his day went from bad to worse. (SPC 10-18 SJC)
Player of the match Sachith Silva added the gloss on his and his team’s performance as he scored to put the game to bed for the Josephians.
The visitors set piece proved to be the better of the two teams on the day as winger Silva went over off a lost line out by the home team. (SPC 10-25 SJC)
Having known the bonus point win was out of the reach of the hosts, the Blue and White visitors played out the final few minutes to see off arch rivals St. Peter’s on their home turf and retain the Fr. Basil Weeratunge Shield which was won back by Taariq Salih (2015) after 15 years.
Full time: St. Josephs College 25 (3T 2C 2P) beat St. Peter’s College 10 (2T)
Thepapare.com Player of the match: Sachith Silva (SJC wing)
Points Breakdown:
St. Peter’s: R.P Fernando 1T, Bilal Hilmy 1T
St. Joseph’s: Shan Akila 1T, Sachith Silva 2T, 2C, 2P
