Antonians sink at Pallekele as Trinity Lions roar on their home soil

Another epic clash of the Dialogue Schools Rugby League 2026 between the Kandyan heavyweights Trinity College and St Anthony’s College was staged at Trinity College Stadium, Pallekele, today (2nd). The current rugby league and knockout title holders Trinity fought to continue their dominance from the initial second and dismantled St Anthony’s College in both attack and defence by posting a commanding 58 – 05 victory. 

The Antonians who were the hosts on Trinity’s home soil started the proceedings with a deep kick-off. During the fifth minute, Antonians received a scrum, but inside their own half. After a phase their scrum-half made an awful pass where the ball was knocked back. Suddenly, staggering player Achintha Jayasena grabbed the opportunity and picked up the loose ball like an eagle. He then sprinted approximately 15 metres and executed a dive for a glorious try, scoring the first point. (Trinity 05 – 00 SAC) 

Later, the Antonians fell into hot water again as they made a knock-on inside their own 22-metre line. After a dominating scrum Trinity recovered the position and sent the ball from the right to the left corner. The unmarked blindside winger Dimath Ambepitiya received the ball and cut back inside and avoided a couple of tackles to cross the whitewash for a blistering try. (Trinity 10:00 SAC) 

Again, Trinity had an untidy lineout, but somehow they managed to recover the possession. Then the ball worked towards the right corner, and the open-side winger Faizal Amher got away from a couple of tackles and made a brilliant run along the touchline. He managed to cross the tryline and then cut back inside to plant the third try. He put a cherry on top of his own try by nailing the conversion. (Trinity 17:00 SAC) 

Later, Trinity received a line off-side penalty near the opposition’s 22-metre mark towards the right side of the ground. Hence, the Antonian defence was scattered in the right and middle areas by expecting a kick at touch. But Shan Althaf correctly read the opposition and made a cross kick towards the blindside winger Dimath, who was unmarked by the defence. After catching the cross kick, Dimath planted the bonus point try without any disturbance from the defence. (Trinity 22:00 SAC) 

After a few minutes, Trinity again attacked St Anthony’s territory and launched a speedy game. Suddenly, Shan made another cross kick from the right to the left corner by targeting his blindside winger. Speedstar Dimath held well on to the highball and made a replay of his previous try to make it a hat-trick. (Trinity 27:00 SAC) 

Later, Trinity tried to attack from inside their own 22-metre mark and paid the price as they gave away a penalty of holding on to the ball. After earning a lineout which was followed by a maul, Antonians came within touching distance of a try. After a few phases, 2nd rower Dinuka Jayasundara barged his way over the try line by displaying his pure power. (Trinity 27-05 SAC) 

Without wasting any time, Trinity ambushed again into the Antonian territory and got a penalty in their favour for a side-entry offence. After having a five-metre lineout, Trinity attacked with a maul, and after collapsing it, Akash Fernando managed to cross the try line with his strong push by making a strong statement to the other side. (Trinity 32 – 05 SAC) 

During the dying stages of the first half, the Antonians delivered a brilliant attack, but spirited Trinity lads resisted well and finally managed to rip the ball out of the hands of the ball carrier. 

Halftime: Trinity College  32 (6T, 1C) – St. Anthony’s College 05 (1T) 

Trinity started the second half with a flat kickoff, and since then they have recovered the position and gained the territory while sending the ball sideways. Suddenly, the skipper Shan Althaf made a brilliant run while delivering a break in the defence. His excellent run was followed by another intelligent move by Samash Rodrigo, who quickly spotted a loose hole in the defence line. He exploited it with a fine running angle to open up the scoring in the second half. After a few failures, Faizal Amher nailed the target with a magnificent conversion. (Trinity 39 – 05 SACK) 

After a 10-minute play Shan initiated another brilliant passage of a play with a little chip kick, and the centre Kevin Weerakoon grabbed the ball and, with the help of De Silva, made some valuable ground before the ball was sent to the winger Faizal, who ran around the defence from the left corner to seal the eighth try for Trinity. For the second time the try scorer Faizal made a successful conversion on his own try. (Trinity 46 – 05 SACK) 

Later, Trinitians earned a five-metre scrum after applying tremendous pressure on the Antonian lineout throw, which forced them to go for an own try. After a solid scrum, Trinity attacked with their forwards, and then the three-quarters came into the act as star player Shan spotted a gap and speared it using a magnificent running angle to score another try for the Trinity Lions. Faizal made an excellent conversion to lift the points tally. (Trinity 53 – 05 SACK) 

At the brink of the full-time whistle, Trinity earned another scrum near the tryline after putting Antonians under tremendous pressure, who kept the possession but inside their own 22-metre mark. After a dominant scrum, Trinity used a three-quarter movement, thereby giving a pop pass to Shan Althaf, who again went through a gap with a goose step to score the tenth try for the Lions. The conversion attempt by Shan went away from the upright bar as it was curved away at the final minute. (Trinity 58 – 05 SACK) 

During the final minute, the Trinity Lions were hungry for another try, but the Antonians finally resisted by preventing the scoring opportunity, and the referee Gihan Yatawara blew the long whistle by giving a convincing victory to Trinity College by stamping their class filled with authority. By the way, Trinity made a strong statement to the other title contenders by winning the game in a spectacular manner and with a huge margin, especially after checking their bench strength for most of the game. 

Fulltime: Trinity College – 58 (10 T, 4 C) – St. Anthony’s College – 05 (1 T) 

Swisstek Perfect Player of the Match: Kevin Weerakoon (Trinity College) 

Points Breakdown 

Trinity College, Kandy – 58 

Dimath Ambepitiya 3T, Achintha Jayasena 1T, Faizal Amher 2T 3C, Akash Fernando 1T, Samash Rodrigo 1T, Shan Althaf 2T, 1C 

 

St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota – 05 

Dinuka Jayasundara 1T 

Match Referee – Gihan Yatawara