St. Peter’s tarnish Trinity’s hitherto unbeaten record
By M. Shamil Amit
The completion of last week’s matches in the Singer inter-schools league rugby tournament saw some interesting results. The best was the much looked forward to encounter between table leaders for the last three weeks Trinity and defending champions St. Peter’s which was played in Kandy.
The encounter was crucial for both teams and the final outcome saw the Peterites tarnishing the unbeaten record of Trinity in a thrilling match. Trinity despite going down to the Petes managed to hang on to the lead for yet another week.
But the coming weeks are going to be crucial for the top three teams - Trinity, St Peter’s and Kingswood. Trinity and Kingswood have three more matches to play with the two teams sheduled to clash next month.
St. Peter’s have only two more games. So the three teams are in a must win situation and one loss for either will put paid to their chances of advancing. So now the season has reached an interesting stage and the coming weeks is going to be decisive for the top three teams.
In the other matches that were played S. Thomas’ pipped Isipathana, Royal outclassed St. Anthony’s while Dharmarajah recorded their first win of the season defeating Vidyartha. Meanwhile in the Division 1B category St. Joseph’s are well away with six wins out of six and are almost assured of promotion to the top division. They have two more games to play with one against Mahanama who are in a must win situation with the third team Wesley also in the same plight.
Trinity vs St. Peter’s
The Trinitians came with their heads high having notched up four consecutive wins while the rejuvenated Peterites were coming into the game with the intention of spoiling the Lions party and this is just what they did as they tamed the Lions in their own den.
Though the game was a low scoring affair the ingredients of a fitting finale was there. But this time the last minute luck was not there in favour of the Lions which saw them recording wins over S. Thomas’ and St. Anthony’s.
The Peterites might have had this planned as the Trinitians found it hard to pierce through the stonewall defence of the Petes. Though the scoring margin was low what mattered for the Peterites was the win, which they were were looking for.
They played to a game plan and they meant business when making the first try - just five minutes from the start and followed it up with a penalty to take a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes of play. Trinity came back and succeeded in decreasing the Petes lead through a try and 10-5 remained the half time score.
Penalties missed are a wasted opportunity. That’s what happened to the Petes when the game resumed and in the process denied them the chance to put the Lions under pressure. The Lions taking advantage of this lapse continued to fight back and succeeded, to the utter dismay of the Peterite supporters, to make it 10-10.
The Peterites were undeterred and from there on they had the Trinitians under control. They never gave their opponents any chance of making any headway. The second half try by the Petes ( after 20 minutes) put more pressure on the Lions.
But the Peterites played a cool game and succeeded in fulfilling their mission and now for sure they are not going to be “push overs” anymore and will go all out to take the league title for the third year.
S.Thomas’ vs Isipathana
It was lady luck for the Thomians as they managed to just pip the Isipathanians by two points to come out victorious at 17-15. The crucial conversion missed by Isipathana’s place kicker saw them crashing to their second defeat.
In the end the Thomians cannot be happy with their performance due to this fact. Going by the capabilities of the two teams that they were having a healthy 12-0 lead at lemons. Having further increased the lead by another five points on resumption they failed to take advantage of it.
The Isipathanians taking note of this lapse began, slowly but surely, to creep near the Thomian score. Like a busy snail they accumulated the points and got closer while the Thomians seemed to be falling back. A try two minutes from finish, the Pathanas were almost on the verge of making it a draw and that crucially missedl conversion put paid their chances.
Royal vs St. Anthony’s
The Royalists who began the season on a sour note losing their first two games seems to have settled down at least for the time being. The 25-12 defeat they handed over the Antonians could have been more.
The conversions they fluffed are vital in any game. If those were penalties offered then in a crucial game it’s going to cost them a lot. With the Bradby Shield just two weeks away they cannot afford to make mistakes of this nature. Bad luck to the Antonians who crashed to their sixth successive defeat of the season.
Dharmrajah vs Vidyartha
Dharmarajah saw the winning post at last with a crushing 43-0 win over Vidyartha. Hopefully the Rajans would be hoping this would also not be the last. But even such a thing cannot prevent them from being demoted.
St Joseph’s vs
Thurstan
There is no stopping the Josephians who are having a whale of a time this season. They cruised to their sixth successive victory by inflicting a 24-7 defeat to the Thurstanites. With two matches remaining they are assured of another win which is against Lumbini MV. However if they want eight out of eight, then they will have to overcome the tough game which is against second placed Mahanama.
Mahanama vs Ananda
It was a narrow escape for Mahanama against Ananda whom they pipped by just two points 26-24.
Thanks to an easy penalty fluffed by Ananda they were able to keep their unbeaten tag. But they have two tough games to look forward to which is against Wesley and St. Joseph’s. So keep your fingers crossed.
Wesley vs Prince of Wales
Wesley after being held to 15-15 draw by Prince of Wales has put them in an awkward position. This is going to cost them too much if they are looking forward to go up the ladder.
They are in a must win situation with matches against Mahanama and Thurstan remaining to be played. This week’s game against Mahanama will see where they are heading and their much looked forward to progress to the top.
