Theekshana Dassanayke scored four tries to steer St Peter’s College to a convincing 35-18 victory over Kingswood College in their first league match for the season at St Peter’s College grounds this evening.
St Peter’s had a disappointing season last year under the captaincy of much the talented Kevin Dixon. They lost to S Thomas’ in the cup semi final of this years 7’s which was unexpected from the defending champions. However with Colin Dinesh back as the head coach, the Peterites are expected to perform up to their fullest potential in the league.
Kingswood kicked started the game, but it was the Peterites who scored inside the first ten minutes with an unconverted try by Theekshana Dassanayke. Clean line out taken inside the 22m and just worked the ball towards Theekshana who powered his way over the line. Stephan Sivaraj could not collect the extras on that occasion. ( SPC 05 – KC 00)
Kingswood was quick to bounce back with a drop goal out of nowhere by Shivantha Ranaweera. Peter’s losing possession inside their 22m saw Shivantha pulling off a stunning drop goal from 22m to draw back the deficit. ( SPC 05 – KC 03 )
Stephan got the chance to add 3 points to his side but he missed a difficult penalty by a long way. Peter’s scored their second try few minutes later and it Theekshana who went over the line yet again. Pretty similar to his first try, brute force from the young Peterite. ( SPC 10 – KC 03 )
The boys from the hill country bounced back from the restart when Peter’s made a cardinal mistake of knocking on the highball. Tarinidu Malikage pounced on that mistake and scored the first try for the season for his school. Shivantha missed out on the extras. ( SPC 10 – KC 08 )
St Peter’s scored their third try for the game but it was not awarded to them. Referee rightfully brought back play to where the penalty was given to the home side. Peterite bench was quick to react when the penalty was given to them so the substitute player came running in with the Tee which was spotted by the line referee. However Peter’s got three points through a successful penalty taken by Sandesh Jayawickrama. ( SPC 13 – KC 08 )
The home side scored their third try of the match which was by their speedster Diyath Fernando who spotted a gap and ran over the line. They go the basics right and that helped them to get ahead in the game. Sandesh could not add the extras. ( SPC 18 – KC 08 )
Towards the end of the second half, Stephan Sivaraj showed some individual brilliance to score the fourth try for the Peterites. Stephan took the ball from the 40m shoved a few defenders and used his skills on foot to score a wonderful try under the post. Conversion was an easy one for the likes of Sandesh.
Half Time: St Peter’s College 25 – Kingswood College 08
The second half was closely fought by both sides. Petes started off the second half with Theekshana completing his hat-trick for the match. All three of his tries showed similar speed and strength. ( SPC 30 – KC 08 )
Photo Album – St.Peter’s College v Kingswood College (Schools Rugby 2016)
Kingswood made a comeback after that first blemish. Imesh Siriwardane was the try scorer but credit should go to the whole team. A quick tap taken inside the 10m by Heshan Shenon and offloaded to Imesh who pushed his way over. Tarinda Malikge could not add the extras. ( SPC 30 – KC 13 )
Peterites lost their way somewhat in the second half. The visitors scored their third try for the day through another quick tap taken inside Peter’s 10m. It was Shenesh Kawishka who scored the try for Kingswood College. Kickers from both sides struggled to make an impact in the match but they will have to correct themselves going forward. ( SPC 30 – KC 18 )
The star of the game was Theekshana Dasanayke scored his fourth try of the match in the dying minutes of the second half. It was the easiest out of all four tries he scored, Kingswood defense was all over the place which let Theekshan run around the defenders to score. ( SPC 35 – KC 18 )
The home side lost its way at the end of the game. Harin Biyanwala and Pramod Dilshan were sent to the naughty chair. However the Peterites did not concede any points even though they were down to 13 men. Kingswood lacked penetration right throughout and when they got close to score they only ended up turning over the ball. Petes showed glimpses of consistency in the whole match but towards the end they looked a bit rusty.
Full Time: St Peter’s College 35 – Kingswood College 18
St Peter’s College : Theekshana Dasanayke 4T, Stephan Sivaraj 1T, Diyath Fernando 1T, Sandesh Jayawickrama 1C 1P
Kingswood College : Shivantha Ranaweera 1DG, Shenesh Kawishka 1T, Imesh Siriwardane 1T, Tarnidu Malkage 1T
ThePapare Man of the Match: Theekshana Dassanayke ( St Peter’s College )
