Wesley College arriving from the B division into the top division this season indicated their impending dominance earning their second consecutive victory, this time against St. Anthony’s College Katugastota.
Rugby is never a gentleman’s game but the Wesley – Anthony’s was rather disciplined. On a winning streak having taken down giants and 2012 league champs Isipathana in their previous game, Wesley support was there in numbers. Wesley drew first blood much to the delight on the crowd present with a penalty but the game changed in favor of the St. Anthony’s since then. Two tries scored by the No 8. player Panduka Angammana in a row hushed the large Wesley camp.
As the gap increased to a 17-3 the Kandy squad continued to gain confidence and at that stage a St Anthony’s dominance was much in evidence. At this point the strong back line Wesley boasts of came to save the game for them. Taking the advantage of a lose pass by the Anthonian No. 8 player itself few meters from the try line the Wesley Captain took matters into his own hands.Rahul was on a focused fight to prevent Anthony’s gaining any more chances and finally just before half time he went over for the much awaited try taking the overall score to 17-10 closing the gap and showing evidence of domination. It was not good enough to take over the game and at the break it was all-even.
HT: Wesley 10 St Anthony’s 17
At the half time team talks whatever the Wesley coach Amal said to his team members, it had the desired effect: Wesley came back strong. As the game continued the St. Anthony’s reaction to the attack plan was rather slow. Their strong rebellious nature helped the Kandy troupes to sustain for a while but Wesley College did not leave space for a single try or a penalty from that point onwards.
From the beginning of the second half, the rugby coordinator Mr. F. Zilva was optimistic about the fixture. Speaking to ThePapare team he pointed out the role played of the captain, Rahul “He did the right thing; we had to get the ball moving forward. The predictions were spotted on”.
It was St. Anthonys who had a huge struggle to maintain -the score 17 -10. Finally they succumbed and Wesley scored. S. K. Ariyawansha proved the mightiness of the blues with a second try settling scores. St Anthonys could not hold its end up and Wesley scored again; once again it was captain Rahul with a penalty bringing the points to 20-17 to put Wesley ahead in the encounter.
The spectators were jubilant and the Blues were on fire; shooting for more tries. M Usman got the opportunity to score an unconverted try not leaving behind a single opportunity for the disappointed Antonions. As the scores became 25 -17 Wesley taking the lead one thing lead to another and was at a triumphant 32 -17 with another try by S. K. Ariyawansha to end the game.
FULL TIME: Wesley 32 – SACK 17
“The game changing input was from the No. 14 player, S. K. Ariyawansha” said the captain commenting on the victory. He adds “everybody was watching out for the mistakes- too many knockouts; however Ariyawansha deserves credit for this one. He played the outstanding role”. Wesley College was patching their mistakes up as the game moved on. After all, there is no better remedy than to learn from our own mistakes.
