In an encounter that will be remembered for years, St. Joseph’s College Colombo staged a miraculous comeback to defeat Kingswood College Kandy in their Schools Rugby Knockouts (Presidents Trophy) pre-quarterfinal clash at Havelock Sports Club. Trailing 0-17 at the breather and staring down the barrel of elimination, the Josephians displayed incredible resilience to level the scores in regulation time before sealing a dramatic victory with a penalty in additional time.
The game began with Kingswood College looking every bit the dominant side. Utilizing their heavy forwards and exploiting the width with swift backline movements, the Kandy school dominated territory and possession early on. After a few phases Joes was penalized for an offside play, giving a straightforward opportunity for the visitors. Kingswood flyhalf Ashik Asmi bisected the posts to take the first blood of the game. (KCK 03 – 00 SJC)
After a long period without scoring, St. Joseph’s gave away another penalty under repeated infringement law as the lock forward Sathira Gunathilake marched to the naughty chair. With the aim of obtaining the numerical advantage, Kingswood opted for a scrum and was attacked with a No. 08 break. Here, the visiting forwards add tremendous pressure on Joes while they manage to move forward inch by inch. Suddenly the Kingswood skipper and scrum-half Sachintha Naveesha pretended that he was going to feed the ball toward another forward but eventually dived over the whitewash to bring the first try of the game at the 30th minute. Ashik Asmi nailed an easy conversion to extend the lead (KCK 10 – 00 SJC).
Again Kingswood raided the Joes’ territory after the Joes were penalized for holding on to the ball. After a steady lineout the Kingswood forwards executed copybook stuff with pick and drives and almost reached the tryline by gaining more than 30 meters of territory. While the focus was on the forwards, the nippy Kingswood scrumhalf Sachintha Naveesha dived again to plant his second try at the basement of the left goalpost. Again, Asmi made a successful conversion to give a massive lead for the visitors. (KCK 17 – 00 SJC)
Then the referee blew the short whistle. When the players walked out of the field for the lemons, the Kingswoodians took maximum advantage of the yellow card and replied with back-to-back tries to shift the game momentum in their favor.
Half time: Kingswood College 17 (2T, 2C, 1P) – 00 St. Joseph’s College
Kingswood kicker Asmi started the second half with a deep, high-hanging dropkick, and straightaway the Joes gained good yardage by piercing a gap in the defense before they received a penalty for a high tackle. After being restored to 15 men, Joes looked like a different unit and applied tremendous pressure on the visitors. The backs rallied around the forwards and gained some valuable meters before the powerful Josephian skipper Inosh Silva crossed the try line for their first try. Then Adriyano Candappa made a fine conversion to cut the deficit further. (KCK 17 – 07 SJC)
Later, Kingswood received a penalty for an offside offense, but the kick had neither the direction nor the distance. Then Kingswood’s defense looked like they were out of answers against the Joes’ second-half resurgence and made multiple errors at the crucial junctures of the game. Finally, the patient of the referee ran out and issued back-to-back yellow cards by swinging back the game in favor of the Joes. While the visitors expected an attack from the forwards, Joes took a quick tap and made a long cut-out pass to winger Hirusha Manahara, who planted a fascinating try near the left corner flag. The conversion kick went astray. (KCK 17 – 12 SJC)
Then Kingswood was back to 14 men after a sin-binned player returned to the field after staying 10 minutes on the naughty chair. But this went from bad to worse for the Kandyan boys as the referee issued another yellow for repeated offside play. Amid the numerical disadvantage, the Kingswood defense fought hard without giving any easy scoring, especially by stopping a few powerful driving mauls. But finally, St. Joseph managed to penetrate for a try from the right corner after the ball was sent wide to the openside winger Shanelka Cooray. After leveling the score the Josephians aimed to take the lead through the conversion, but the kick was unsuccessful. (KCK 17 – 17 SJC)
At the brink of the full-time whistle Joes earned a five-meter penalty. But the solid Kingswood defense was unshaken and never allowed the Joes to score the winning try. After a few phases Kingswood received a penalty (for an offside) inside their own half. Interestingly, Kandyan lads opted to go to the posts. But the kick didn’t live up to its billing and landed near the 22-meter mark as the Joes initiated a counterattack. There, Kingswood made a crucial mistake by giving away a silly penalty for an offside. But the Joes also failed to score until the completion of 70 minutes of play.
Full time: Kingswood College 17 (2T, 2C, 1P) – 17 (3T, 1C, 1P) St. Joseph’s College
As the scores were leveled, the game went for the additional time to decide the winner, and the Joes received an early penalty, but the straightforward kick narrowly missed the target. Then St. Joseph’s had another life as Kingswood was penalized for not releasing the ball carrier at the deck. This time Byan Fernando had a difficult task, but he nailed the opportunity as the game went for sudden death. The celebrations began even before the long whistle, which had watched their team transform from a disjointed unit in the first half to a ruthless attacking machine in the second.
For Kingswood College, it was a case of what might have been. After a flawless first half, they were unable to contain the Josephian onslaught in the second half. For St. Joseph’s victory is a testament to their character and fighting spirit, proving that no lead is safe until the final whistle blows.
After Sudden Death Phase: Kingswood College 17 (2T, 2C, 1P) – 20 (3T, 1C, 2P) St. Joseph’s College
- Swisstek Player of the Match: Bryan Fernando (St. Joseph’s College)
Points Breakdown
St. Joseph’s College – 20
Inosh Silva 1T, Hirusha Manahara 1T, Shanelka Cooray 1T, Adriyano Candappa 1C, Bryan Fernando 1P
Kingswood College – 17
Sachintha Naveesha 2T, Ashik Asmi 2C 1P
 pre-quarterfinal clash at Havelock Sports Club. Trailing 0-17 at the breather and staring down the barrel of elimination, the Josephians displayed incredible resilience to level the scores in regulation time before sealing a dramatic victory with a penalty in additional time. ){kind=link}