Resilient Trinity College stood the test of time as their all-round skill outshone a one dimensional S.Thomas’ side in a clinical 40 (5T, 3C, 3P) – 15 (2T, 1C, 1P) win.
The traditional fixture for the Canon R.S.De Saram shield created much hype as Trinity College travelled down to the sea coast for the first time this season in a bid to retain the shield. Thomian coach Jivan Gunathilake was delighted with the availability of Sachitha Jayathilaka after the end of the schools cricket season.
“It will be tough. Just want to enjoy the moment and do our best. It’ll be enough. Sachitha is back it will be a big boost, he is a talented player.”
The visitors started off brightly with Nethmal Sakalasuriya finishing off a wonderful rolling maul to settle the nerves inside the opening five minutes. Saranga Gunathilake’s to add the extra points went wide. (0-5 Trinity)
Trinity attacked at every given moment and earned themselves a penalty in front of goal which Saranga stepped up to make it 0-8 Trinity.
Trinity were camped inside the Thora 22m for the opening quarter of an hour and looked ominous. After Bumindra Dissanayake botched two try scoring opportunities with the line screaming at him and Ashwantha Herath a penalty, Trinity made the hosts pay for their mistakes as another three quarter move saw Ryan Weerakoon going over the whitewash. Gunathilake added the extras. (00-15 Trinity)
The first half ended with Trinity’s Nathan Chang yellow carded of being offside and S.Thomas’ bringing in triple coloursman and star player Sachitha Jayathilaka in place of the unimpressive Wijerathne.
With a man advantage S.Thomas’ announced themselves into the second half in positive manner earning a penalty in the early going. Ashwantha Herath sent the ball between the posts making it 3-15.
Building on the pressure the Thomians found their luck as Jurampathy’s grubber kick fell into the hands of flyhalf Ferdinando who screamed away for the score. Suddenly the scores read 8-15 with Herath missing the conversion.
S.Thomas’ put together the phases but were unable to break the solid Trinity defense which wasn’t tested much during the past two matches. Trinity were rewarded for their valor in defense when Saranga Gunathilaka turned defense into attack in a blink of an eye chasing down his own kick and speeding away to score under the posts and converted for good measure. (08-22 Trinity)
Minutes later Trinity who had been doing some new things attempted a viper’s kick and executed it with precision. Thisila Perera sent the wonderfully weighted cross kick towards the touch line where Geshan Pethiyagoda rose highest and stole it from his opposition number and sped away to adding the fourth under the post. Gunathilake added the two points. (08-29 Trinity)
S.Thomas’ found some relief as Herath offloaded to Naveen Henakankanamge who cut back in to score near the uprights finishing off a good passage of play. Herath converted making it 15-29.
Trinity were not finished yet as Ryan Weerakoon charged down a kick and two phases later Saranga Gunathilake spotting the gap behind scored with his trademark chip and chase. He missed in own conversion as Trinity led 15-34.
Gunathilake added a penalty sandwiched between two yellow cards for Rathnayake of S.Thomas’ and Rahul Karunathilake of Trinity for a late tackle. Saranga Gunathilake added another three points with the final kick of the game making it a comfortable 15-40 for the Lions. 
“It was a different game today. We had to do a lot of defense. We knew S.Thomas’ will throw everything at us. We did too much defending. The first 20 mins we really put a stamp down on the game and scored 15 points which we gained control the game. To be fair they never let go gave a good run. Our system in defense was good and it stood the test. Solid defense and we caught them on the break.” Trinity coach Eric Miller shared his thoughts exclusively with ThePapare.com.
“Really happy. Guys played well. We are peaking well for the Bradby. We marked their forwards. Those who came from the bench gave their 100% so it was easy.” A jubilant captain Isuru Rangala added to ThePapare.com
ThePapare.com’s Man of the Match – Anuka Boyagoda and Saranga Gunathilake.
Scorers
Trinity – Saranga Gunathilake 2T, Geshan Pethiyagoda 1T, Ryan Weerakoon 1T, Nethmal Sakalasuriya 1T. Saranga Gunathilaka 3C,3P
S.Thomas’ – Ferdinando 1T, Naveen Henakankanamge 1T, Ashwantha Herath 1C,1P
Shame on you Thora!
The organisers of the Old Thomians Rugby Football Union and S.Thomas’ College should keep in mind that this is a schools rugby match and NOT an international match where the All Blacks are playing. Charging Rs.1000 for a ticket is downright absurd! These are school boys and parents of the players who come to watch these matches and NOT people who can throw away money at will.
