A superb second half rally saw St Peter’s College ending their final Group A match on a high note by beating St Anthony’s College by 32 points consisting of (4T,3C,2P) to 17(3T,1C) after they lead 13 points to 05 at the short whistle in a match played at the Nittawela Grounds.
With this win the Peterites retain the Rector’s while the eagles get demoted to the plate competition. The game got underway with overcast conditions around Kandy as both teams struggled early on with the ball handling as they pushed for a score.
In the 09th minute of play, St Peter’s were awarded a penalty just outside St Anthony’s 22 meter line and they opted to take the penalty with Shamri Burah successfully converting to give his side a 03 point lead. Burah doubled the lead in the 15th minute with his second penalty as the Peterites lead 06 points to nil. Trailing by 06 points the Eagles came back strongly and held territory inside the Peterite 22 but too many mistakes cost them dearly. They finally succeed in the 33rd minute when they worked their line for M.Rodrigo to score near the corner flag. Referee after consulting with the touch judge awarded the Try. However the conversion was missed and Peters lead 06 points to 05.
With half time almost approaching off a scrum inside the eagles 22 the loose ball was collected well by Peterite scrum half Steve Dharmaratne who dummied his way unchallenged to score under the post giving Burah a simple conversion as St Peter’s went into half time leading by 13 points to 05. During this half a Peterite and a St’Anthony’s player was sin binned.
The second half got under way with conditions similar to the first half as the teams played more open rugby working the line which was pleasing to see for the spectators as they cheered their teams. It was the home team that took first lease, off a chip kick inside their own half the rebound was collected by K.Kusturi who broke through couple of tackles to score under the post giving D.M.Jayatissa a simple conversion as the Peterites held a slender 13 points to 12 lead.
With a little over 30 minutes of play remaining both teams of supporters were expecting a nail biting finish as you could see the pressure on the visitors. But the Peterites did not disappoint their fans who traveled all the way from Colombo by scoring three tries to take the game beyond the home team.
The first of the three tries was scored by flanker Nishon Perera in the 52nd minute after the Peterites were stationed close the eagles try line, when they worked the line as Perera spotted a gap to score under the post for Shamri Burah who converted as the Peterites lead 20 points to 12. Soon after that tempers and some ugly incidents flared with referee warning both teams to calm down and play rugby.
St Peter’s further extended their lead when Sandesh Jayawickrama scored after they worked their line from a move which was created at the half way line. Shamri Burah missed the conversion as the Peterites lead 25 points to 12. With about 10 minutes remaining the Peterites were looking for that all important forth try which came in the 72nd minute off a scrum deep inside the eagles half which they could not hold on to their own insertion as the ball went loose for Peterite skipper Senal Aponso to collect, run through and score to the joy of the Peterite fans. Shamri Burah with the conversion as the Peterites took a commanding 32 points to 12 lead.
With time running out for the home team, they launched several drives close to the Peterite line and with almost the last passage of play they broke through the Peterite defense for C,B.Ranaraja to score while the conversion was missed as the final score read St Peter’s 32 to St Anthony’s 17. The scrums, turnover and loose play was dominated by the Peterites while the Eagles were superior in the line outs.
ThePapare Player of the Match was Peterite scrum half Steve Dharmaratne
