Royal College secured their second win of the season today as they defeated Science College 37-22 in their fixture held at the Royal College Sports Complex.
Science College got off to the perfect start as they capitalized on a major blunder by the Royal full back Sabith Feroze in order to score the first try of the game. The visitors looked to open the scoring through a penalty that fell short of the uprights. In an attempt to collect the ball and clear, the full back dropped the ball which was collected easily by Daminda Lakshitha who barged over the line to score. The try was converted by Thanuja Kandamby (RC 00 – SC 07).
After the shock of seeing the visitors score, the Royalists started settling into the game which was evident in some strong plays being employed by the forwards. The break- through for the home team came in the 19th minute when the forwards linked up to free the prop Nikhil Gunadhira who was able to force his way into space and offload the ball to the line which worked it wide. Akash Iddawela was on the receiving end of the final pass and he crashed over to score in the right corner. Ayendra Subasinghe’s conversion was unsuccessful (RC 05 SC 07).
What appeared to be the perfect start for the boys from Science College was completely thwarted by the Royal forwards whose game seemed to progress from strength to strength with every passing minute. Royals try scoring machine from last years’ season Supun Warnakulasuriya got in on the action as he scored a trio of tries to put his team into a commanding position. All three tries were scored through 5 meter line outs which were followed by rolling mauls that were executed with pin-point accuracy. The ploy which has won the hearts of every fan of Royal rugby looked to be better than ever as the opposing teams situation went from bad to worse with each try. The conversions were missed on all three occasions however as the referees whistle blew to signal half time the home team looked in fine form to make it two wins in a row.
Half time- Royal College 20 (4T) – Science College 07 (1T 1C)
Royal College started the second half where they left off in the first as they applied waves of pressure on the Science defense. After 8 minutes of strong attacking play, the Royalists cashed in through a beautifully executed drop kick by their fly half Ayendra Subasinghe. Subasinghe who was not having the greatest day with the boot redeemed himself as he slotted the kick through from just inside the opposing 22 (RC 23- SC 07)
Knowing that the game was slipping away the visiting team started to pick up the pace as they attempted to change things around. Their game plan seemed to have worked as they racked up two scores in the 12th and 19th minute to cut the deficit. The first score was a result of a bad clearance by the Royalists which was collected by the Science College full back who kicked the ball back into a gaping hole in the Royal defense. His kick was collected by one of his team mates who offloaded the ball to Dushan Ayeshmantha who had to run a few meters to score right under the uprights. The conversion was missed. The second score came through a penalty which was put through the uprights by Kandamby who made amends for the missed conversion (RC 23-15).
Any thoughts of a potential Science come back were destroyed when they conceded an unnecessary try just one minute after they scored the penalty. Royal having kicked the ball relatively deep looked in no position to score, however Kandamby found himself passing the ball straight into the hands of the center Iddawela who held on to the gift and ran about 10 meters to cross the line and score his second try for the boys in blue and gold. Subasinghe added the extras as Royal once again moved into a comfortable lead. (RC 30- SC 15)
The lead was extended even further as Warnakulasuriya scored his 4th try of the game. A five meter scrum for the home team witnessed the talented forward break away from the scrum in order to barge over the line and score. Subasinghes conversion was successful (RC 37- SC 15).
As the game progressed into its final stages Science College managed to score a final try through Dananjaya Fonseka who latched on to a punt off the boot of one of his team mates to score. Kandamby sent the conversion through the uprights but it was all too late for the visitors as the game ended just moments later resulting in yet another win for the Royalists.
Full time score- Royal College 37 (6T 2C 1DG) Science College (3T 2C 1P)
ThePapare Player of the Match – Supun Warnakulasuriya AC
