In an encounter that had fans on the edge of their seats until the final whistle, St. Peter’s College managed to secure a heart-stopping two-point victory over Ananda College. The match, a classic display of school rugby intensity, was defined by a relentless see-saw battle that culminated in a dramatic final play, sealing the win for the Peterites.
St. Peter’s launched the game with a flat kick-off. The hosts, Ananda College, took a good attacking position inside the opposition’s 22-meter mark as they nailed a brilliant 50-22 meter kick, but St. Peter’s College held their nerve to prevent the try, resulting in a goal line drop-out.
Later, St. Peter’s attacked with a well-constructed maul which was driven nicely, and Anandians had no answer other than backpedalling. While all the focus was on the maul, the Peterites made another clever move with their No. 08 breaking away from the back of the maul by noticing that no one was defending the blind side. Shenuka Perera easily managed to run along the touchline and drew the first blood of the game from the right corner. (SPC 05 – 00 AC)
Ananda wasn’t ready to give up, and they knocked hard on the door and finally made a break from the left side on the midway mark. Three-quarters of them managed to sprint and get closure to the try line, but Shiras made a good covering tackle to catch the ball carrier. Then the ball was off-loaded to the winger Thenula Wijewardhane, who made a show and go to penetrate over the whitewash from the left corner and cut back inside to plant a try right under the crossbar. Skipper Deneth Chamuditha made no mistake with the conversion. (SPC 05 – 07 AC)
With that game momentum, Ananda raided into St. Peter’s territory and received a penalty as the visitors were penalised for a high tackle. Deneth Chamuditha continued to impress the home supporters with a successful kick made from just outside the 22 meter mark. (SPC 05 – 10 AC)
While the hosts were enjoying a good outing, the spirited Peterites regrouped and launched a fierce attack deep into the Ananda territory. After crossing the 22 meter mark, the visitors asked some serious questions from the Ananda defensive line with a fine pick-and-drive attack. Suddenly the skipper Shenuka Perera, who was latched on by Hashara Madugasge from behind, delivered an unstoppable push to plant another try from the left side of the goalposts by squaring the game again. (SPC 10 – 10 AC)
Ananda again displayed their fighting spirit and brought the play back to the opposition’s half and kept Peterites under pressure. As a result, they earned a scrum with their throwing. After recovering the ball from the scrummage, the fly-half Rehan Attanayake gave a magnificent pass to the fly-half Deneth Chamuditha, who spotted a gap in the defence and joined the line from nowhere to exploit it. Then Chamuditha goes through the defence like a hot knife through butter to score an under-the-posts try, just before he nails another conversion. (SPC 10 – 17 AC)
Just after Ananda came back to the lead, the game swung again as Peterites triggered a fine counterattack. A ruck was formed in front of the Ananda goalposts, and the nippy scrum-half Shirash Perera picked the ball and ran a few steps towards the left side to deceive the Ananda defence. Suddenly he made an inside switch pass towards the Peterite skipper by creating a gap, and Shenuka Perera did the rest with ease by penetrating through the defence to touch down near the left side of the posts. Hashara Madugasge nailed the first conversion for the Peterites and levelled the score as a short whistle went for the lemons. (SPC 17 – 17 AC)
Half Time: St. Peter’s College 17 (3T, 1C) – 17 (2T, 2C, 1P) Ananda College
In the second half, St. Peter’s gained a good attacking position with a lineout on the opposition’s 22-metre mark. After a solid line-out Peterites triggered a brilliant driving maul. As Ananda forwards were short of energy to face Peterites, the maul smoothly cruised over the whitewash, and Revone Perera planted the bonus point try for the visitors. (SPC 22 – 17 AC)
The hosts were determined to strike back and displayed a gritty passage of play in front of the home crowd. With the pressure, Peterite’s defensive line was offside by giving another kicking opportunity to Chamuditha on a silver platter. The Ananda skipper maintained his momentum with boots and cut the deficit with a successful penalty kick. (SPC 22 – 20 AC)
Then the pendulum swung back again in favour of Peterites as they replied with a fine attack. After displaying good handling skills, the ball was worked to the left side of the ground, and there was an overlap in the corner. After reaching the five-metre mark, Ananda did well to cover the winger who was charging towards the whitewash. But after a single phase, Cheual Abeygunawardhane went over the line with the support of his latcher. (SPC 27 – 20 AC)
While Peterites took the upper hand, Ananda never let go of their grip. Then, the Peterite skipper was sin-binned by the referee for twisting the legs of the ball carrier in a dangerous manner during a tackle. The incident brought a fresh dawn for the hosts, and they attacked with a maul, noticing that the man who should definitely be on the field was at the naughty chair. Finally, Ananda forwards were successful as No. 08 Seymal Wimalasooriya barged to a try through a fine maul. Skipper Chamuditha nailed a crucial conversion to square the game again by bringing spectators on to the edge of their seats. (SPC 27 – 27 AC)
Then, Peterites got a line-out throw inside the opposition’s 22-metre mark following a penalty. Though line-out was overthrown, the visitors did well to secure the ball and attack with a wave of scintillating pick-and-drives by using their heavy forwards. There the Peterites got a second opportunity as the Ananda defensive line went offside. They took a tap and switched the ball to Revone Perera, who dragged the tacklers with his pure power to score at a crucial juncture of the game. A game-defining conversion came from the boot of Ashok Krishan by giving a seven-point cushion to the visitors. (SPC 34 – 27 AC)
During the dying stage of the game, Ananda College thrived for a try to at least post a glorious draw to turn the tables. Their course was eased by the silly play by St Peter’s three-quarter as the referee gave another yellow card for a dangerous tackle. The nervous moments began, and Ananda attacked fiercely into St. Peter’s territory during the final seconds. After a clean lineout, the hosts drove perfectly towards the try line with a maul, and the Peterites failed to resist as the hosts crossed the whitewash for yet another try, courtesy of the 2nd rower, Ovindu Wibhuja. Then it was in the hands of Ananda skipper Chamuditha, as that was the final play. Though Chamuditha was excellent with kicking, he narrowly missed the crucial kick by sealing a thrilling two-point victory for the Peterites during the game that went to the wire.
Full Time: St. Peter’s College 34 (6T, 2C) – 32 (4T, 3C, 2P) Ananda College
- Swisstek Perfect Player of the Match – Revone Perera (St. Peter’s College)
Points Breakdown
St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya – 34
Shenuka Perera 3T, Cheual Abeygunawardhane 1T, Revone Perera 2T, Ashok Krishan 1C, Hashara Madugasge 1C
Ananda College, Colombo – 32
Thenula Wijewardhane 1T, Seymal Wimalasooriya 1T, Ovindu Wibhuja 1T, Deneth Chamuditha 1T, 3C, 2P
Match Referee – Tharindu Perera
