Another week 4 fixture of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2023 took place today at the Trinity College Rugby Stadium in Pallekele as the visitors St. Joseph’s College obliterated the hosts Kingswood 48 – 15.
Joes started off in a very much attacking mood and it was quite evident from the word go that they were searching for a bonus point win over battered and bruised Kingswood side. Naveen Marasinghe the talismanic skipper of Joes provided them with the first blood inside the first 5 minutes as the forwards came into action early in the day for the visitors. The conversion was not an easy one and it proved to be too much for Ruchitha Rodrigo as he failed to add the two extra points (SJC 05 – 00 KCK)
Shortly after the first try, Joes received the ball once again in Kingswood territory through a scrum and Bheeshma Jayasekara took them ever so close to the whitewash. But it was the big forward Jehan Athukorala who finished the job with some muscle aid from the skipper Marasinghe to score their 2nd try inside the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately, another kick from a hard angle meant Rodrigo missed a 2nd conversion (SJC 10 – 00 KCK)
The 3rd try came for the Joes soon after a Vihanga Randeepa went for a little cross kick from the halfway mark and Randika Dahamjaya the fullback managed to get to the ball before Kingswood defenders and he had the pace to go all the way to register the 3rd try. Rodrigo finally got the conversion right to add the 2 extra points (SJC 17 – 00 KCK)
The aggressive fast paced style of play continued from the visitors and the 4th and most importantly the bonus point try was scored even before the 25th minute when Shanuka Alahakoon touched down at the left corner. Rodrigo got the kick through again to add 2 more points (SJC 24 – 00 KCK)
After the bonus point try, it’s fair to say that Joes eased up a bit and that opened the door for the home team to finally build some momentum. They received a penalty after a late charge from Dahamjaya and skipper Imanka Ishara successfully added the 3 points as Kingswood finally began their account (SJC 24 – 03 KCK)
Just moments before the halftime break, Joes made the cardinal error of losing the ball forward near their 22m line and to make things worse the opposition skipper Ishara who got a hold of the ball kicked it towards the whitewash and gave a masterstroke chase, he managed to win the footrace with the Joes player and gave his team a much needed first try before the halftime hooter went off. Ishara converted the try himself as the deficit was down to 14 points at halftime (SJC 24 – 10 KCK)
Soon after the game resumed for its 2nd half, St. Joseph’s restarted their demolition derby from the 1st half as they found a 5th try thanks to a perfect rolling maul. Chamodh Seneviratne became the try scorer and Rodrigo failed to add the 2 points (SJC 29 – 10 KCK)
The Joes continued their rolling maul strategy in the 2nd half as it paved the way for another try. Sachinthana Waidyanatha provided them with a strong and powerful run after the rolling maul, but it was Marasinghe who created a large overlap by taking 3 defenders of Kingswood with him. He offloaded to Rodrigo and the ball went to Dahamjaya next as he easily crossed over for the 6th try of the game for the visitors (SJC 34 – 10 KCK)
Even with 6 tries on the board, Joes still had gas left for more tries and the pressure they inserted on the home team was clearly visible when errors continued to pile up and Ishan Inoon was shown a yellow card for not rolling away. St. Joseph’s who took the advantage from that Scored another try this time underneath the post through skipper Marasinghe . Rodrigo converted the try to add 2 more points for the visitors (SJC 41 – 10 KCK)
Marasinghe was clearly not yet done as this time he showcased his individual brilliance to score a 3rd try by fending off 2 Kingswood defenders and evading 2 more. He ran for at least 30m to score this try. Rodrigo converted this one to make it 4/8 for him (SJC 48 – 10 KCK)
Just minutes before the final whistle, the home team received an opportunity to score a consolation try. Kingswood received a penalty near the 22m territory of the Joes and Inoon who took the quick tap took them to touching distance as Damindu de Silva made sure to score the try with brilliant pickup from the ruck. The conversion unfortunately didn’t go through, and the game ended after 10 tries were score giving the visiting St. Joseph’s College much needed win to get their Dialog Schools Rugby League campaign back on track (SJC 48 – 15 KCK)
FULL TIME : St. Joseph’s College 48 (8T, 4C) beat Kingswood College 15 (2T, 1C, 1P)
- NDB Bank Player of the Match : Naveen Marasinghr (SJC)
Points Breakdown :
St. Joseph’s College : Naveen Marasinghe 3T, Randika Dahamnjaya 2T, Chamod Seneviratne 1T, Jehan Athukorala 1T, Shanuka Alahakoon 1T, Ruchitha Rodrigo 4C
Kingswood College : Imanka Ishara 1T 1C 1P, Damindu de Silva 1T
