St Peter’s College defeated St Anthony’s College Kandy by 27 points to 25 this evening at Bambalapitiya. At half time it was 24 – 15 in favour of the Peterites.
The match was played for the prestigious Rectors’ Trophy which was donated jointly by the Rugby Foundation of St. Peter’s College and the Rugby wing of St. Anthony’s College in honour of the past Rectors of the two schools, Rev Fr. Joe Wickramasinghe, who was Rector of St Peter’s and Fr. Aiden de Silva, Rector of St. Anthony’s.
Stephan Sivaraj kicked the game off under perfect conditions at Bambalapitiya. Last year’s highest points scorer Samuel Maduwantha missed a penalty in the early stages of the game. However, the visitors got the early momentum through Kavinda Amarakoon, as he scored the first try of the game for the Eagles by pick and go. Maduwanta missed the conversion and looked uncharacteristic. (SPC 00-05 SACK)
Peterites scored two tries in quick succession. First try was scored by big and bulky prop Nikil Yapa as he went over the Anthonion defence to score under the post. The nippy scrum half Ravin Fernando demolished the visitors defense with fabulous side-stepping skills to score under the post. Sivaraj added the extras. (SPC 14-05 SACK)
St Anthony’s college skipper Dinuk Amarasinghe spotted a gap in the hosts defence and made some valuable yards before offloading it to Antonian hooker Pulasthi Dassanayake to score. Maduwantha added the extras after missing the early two at the uprights. (SPC 14-12 SACK)
St Peter’s received a penalty soon after the St Anthony’s try and Sivaraj kicked the penalty with ease. The outside half then made a clearance kick to gain more than 50 meters and the Peterites stole the valuable line out near their try line. Scrum half Ravin Fernando’s quick pass to Sivaraj saw him sidestep to his opposite fly half to increase their lead. Sivaraj converted his own try. (SPC 24-12 SACK)
Samuel Maduwantha added a penalty just before half time to reduce the gap.
Half Time – SPC 24-15 SACK
The second half was a stop start affair as both teams made a few handling errors but the pace of both lines was fascinating to watch. In the first stages of the second half both teams got a penalty kick each and both kickers were spot on with their kicks. (SPC 24-18 SACK)
St Anthony’s had the momentum with them in the last quarter of the game. Jehan Seelagama scored an important try for the Anthonion Eagles under the post to reduce the Peterite lead. Maduwantha added the important points. In the last five minutes Sivaraj missed two penalties from a kickable range but the Peterites performed a good defensive performance to hold the Kandy lads at bay. (SPC 27-25 SACK)
Full Time – SPC 27-25 SACK
ThePapare player of the match – Stephan Sivaraj (SPC)
The score breakdown
St.Peter’s College (24) 27
Tries: Nikil Yapa, Ravin Fernando , Stephan Sivaraj
Conversion: Stephan Sivaraj(3)
Penalties: Stephan Sivaraj (2)
St. Anthony’s College (15) 25
Tries: Kavisha Amarakoon, Pulasthi Dassanayake, Jehan Seelagama
Conversions: Samuel Maduwanta (2)
Penalties: Samuel Maduwanta (2)
