Wesley College managed to defeat St. Joseph’s College by 19 (3T,2C) to 10 (2T) in their Schools Rugby League encounter played on Sunday evening at CR & FC grounds.
Before this game, Wesley College lost to Trinity College and Royal College narrowly in two closely-contested games while the Josephians were completely outplayed by S. Thomas’ and Trinity in the previous two weeks.
The boys in blue and white enjoyed most of the possession and territory in the early stages of the game but the ‘Double Blues’ defended ferociously not letting their opponents come away with points.
The Joes were penalized in the 9th minute when they were found off-side in their own 22’ but Avishka Lee’s kick did not find the mark. The Josephian fly-half Chathura Senevirathne made few territorial kicks even though the Wesley backs were looking to run the ball wide whenever possible.
In the 33rd minute of the match, the little Wesley half-back Avishka Lee made an excellent box kick from 35-meters out but the Josephian full-back Vinul Fernando let it bounce and made a meal of it as Lee collected the loose ball to score the first try of the match. He converted his own try with ease. (Wesley 07 – St. Joseph’s 00)
The Joes created many scoring opportunities but they could not convert the pressure and possession into points as a scrappy first-half ended without any more points to the board.
HT: Wesley College 07 (1T,1C) – St. Joseph’s College 00
Photo Album – St. Joseph’s College vs Wesley College – Schools Rugby 2016
The boys from Darley Road executed their game plan very well in the 48th minute when full-back Vinul Fernando made a superb 35-meter run and scored a much-needed try to get his alma-mater back into the game. Senevirathne failed to convert the try. (Wesley 07 – St. Joseph’s 05)
Wesley’s number 8 Sashika Fernando made few excellent runs to gain valuable meters for his team as the territorial kicks made by the Josephian No.10 were not chased down properly by his back-three.
The Joes gave away penalties at crucial moments and they seemed to lack a proper game-changer to the much disappointment of their supporters. The Josephian captain Romesh Priyankara surprisingly playing on the wing did not receive much ball to showcase his skills as he was marked to perfection by the Wesley defence.
As the game-clock entered the 55th minute, the Wesley backline fired on all cylinders to run wide and open-up the Josephian defense to give enough space for their blind-side flanker Oshan Dias to score as the cries of Zam Zam Zakey rang true around the ground. Lee converted to extend the lead to 9 points. (Wesley 14 – St. Joseph’s 05)
The ‘Double Blues’ brought on fresh legs for the final quarter of the game to inject some more pace into the game and the experienced former skipper Oma Kuthubdeen’s little punt in the 67th minute worked fine for the Campbell Park lads as prop-forward Dumindu Vimukthi barged over the line to put the final nail in the Josephian coffin. Lee failed to convert. (Wesley 19 – St. Joseph’s 05)
The Josephians appeared unsure on how to come back into the game against the spirited Wesley outfit as the final few minutes were played in fading light. Wesley’s replacement fly-half Taariq Jurangapathy was sent to the ‘Sin-Bin’ for continuous foul play in the dying moments of the match. The one-man advantage paved the way for St. Joseph’s vice-captain and number 8 Devon Fernando to score an unconverted try in the final move of the game but it was too late for the lads from Darley Road as Wesley College finally recorded a win this season.
FT: Wesley College 19 (3T,2C) – St. Joseph’s College 10 (2T)
Former Kingswood and Police No. 8 Bandara Wekadapola all the way from Dubai officiated the match.
ThePapare Man of the Match – Wesley College No. 8 Sashika Ashen Fernando
Points Scorers:
Wesley College – Avishka Lee 9 points (1 try, 2 conversions), Oshan Dias 5 points (1 try), Dumindu Vimukthi 5 points (1 try)
St. Joseph’s College – Vinul Fernando 5 points (1 try), Devon Fernando 5 points (1 try)
 points to 10 (2T) in their Singer Schools Rugby League encounter played on Sunday evening at CR & FC grounds.){kind=link}