Kingswood College won their traditional encounter against the Wesley College in a cliffhanger of a match played amidst a packed stadium at the hill capital Bogambara stadium earlier this evening. Right from the kick off both the teams tried to stamp their authority on the game. However, in the end Kingswood who came on top by a mere point taking the Blaze 40 -39. At lemons the score read 18-11 with the favor in the home team.
Kingswood came into the game being the unbeaten champs in the B division of the tournament with more than a point to prove and right from the kickoff mounted early pressure on Wesley who took time to find their touch after the long one month break. Kingswood drew first blood through their blindside flanker Rajanayaka. The referee played advantage finally which was converted to a penalty which was quickly taken and handed off to Rajanayaka who worked the line brilliantly before going under the posts. Ranaweera the Kingswood fly half and kicker made it look easy from the spot. (Kingswood 07-00 Wesley)
Straight off the restart the try scorer Rajanayake was sin binned for a very dangerous tackle on Avantha Lee. Avishka Lee converted the penalty they received into their first points through a 25m penalty kick which was at a slight angle.(Kingswood 07-03 Wesley)
Minutes later, Wesley was on the receiving end off a penalty for a high tackle which was marginal but strong enough for the referee to give away which Ranaweera slotted in correct. (Kingswood 10-03 Wesley)
At around the 20th minute, Wesley got a penalty for coming in from the side which was yet again put through by Avishka Lee bringing the deficit to just 3 points. (Kingswood 10-06 Wesley)
It was all penalties in the first 25 minutes of the game where the slightest errors were punished by the referee. Ranaweera extended the gap through another penalty he received at the 25th minute this time it was for the line being offside. (Kingswood 13-06 Wesley)
The penalty hoodoo was broken by T.B.Sabar who went over for the first try for Wesley after continuous pressure on the opposition. (Kingswood 13-11 Wesley)
Kingswood then extended their lead through Ranaweera who ran a good angle after a spotting a gap in the Wesley defense. He failed to add the extras to his own try. (Kingswood 18-11 Wesley)
Half time – Kingwood 18 (2T 1C 2P) – 11 (1T 2P) Wesley
The second half started off with a stunner of a try by the Asiri Seneviratne who ran in support of the try creator Ranaweera. After receiving a long cut out pass, Ranaweera ran across past the Wesley defense cutting back in and fending off a defender before handing over a lovely backhand offload to Asiri Seneviratne who only had to sprint his way to post one. Ranaweera missed the conversion by inches. (Kingswood 23-11 Wesley)
Right off the restart, Wesley scored off a Ranaweera knocked-on as T.B.Sabar blasted past the lagging Kingswood defense to plan the try. Avishka Lee put through a peach of a kick from the left corner. (Kingswood 23-18 Wesley)
An offside penalty gave Kingswood an opportunity to extend their lead. (Kingswood 26-11 Wesley)
Wesley scored yet again through C Aponso off an Avishka Lee hand-off which also ended up injuring him. Mohommed Subair converted. (Kingswood 26-25 Wesley)
A late tackle saw E.Harshane sent to the naughty boy chair due to a late tackle on the Kingswood captain and scrum half Heshan Janson ran through the defense to score. Ranaweera then put the conversion through and Kingswood leapt forward.(Kingswood 33-25 Wesley)
Wesley replied with a try of their own immediately. E Harshane back from sin bin was put into space by Avantha Lee who made a clean break off the line before offloading it to the winger. Avantha Lee made a difficult one look easy. (Kingswood 33-32 Wesley)
Individually brilliant play by Hashan Janson saw him picking the ball from the scrum, darting and stepping past a 4 defenders before going under the posts to score. He was also the architect of most of the plays Kingswood orchestrated this evening and showed his class yet again. (Kingswood 40-32 Wesley)
As the game seemed close in favour of the home side, Wesley scored another through winger Weththasinghe who sprinted towards the line one last time. Subair wasted no time as he drop kicked the conversion and ran back to take the restart.(Kingswood 40-39 Wesley)
Eventually the ball went out of play as the referee decided to blow the long whistle giving Kingswood the Blaze trophy for the year 2017.
Full time – Kingswood 40 (5T 3C 3P) – 39 (5T 4C 2P) Wesley
ThePapare.com’s Player of the Match: Heshan Janson (Kingswood)
Score breakdown
Kingswood
Heshan Janson (2T), Rajanayaka (1T), Asiri Senevirathne (1T), Ranaweera (1T 3C 3P)
Wesley
T.B.Sabar (2T), Veththasinghe (1T), E.Harshane (1T), C. Aponso, Avishka Lee (3C 1P), Mohommed Subair (1C 1P)
