Prince Of Wales’ College staged a remarkable performance to beat Vidyartha College, Kandy by 41-28 in their ‘Milo’ premier knockout trophy quarter-final encounter worked out at Royal College sports complex on Wednesday afternoon.
After two walkovers the last few days, finally the premier trophy got underway with Cambrian fly-half D.Peiris kicking off the game. Cambrian lads got the scoreboard moving as soon as the 2nd minute of the game when their speedy wing three quarter P.Mendis crossed over the try line from a well-executed set play move by their back line. D.Peiris failed to add the conversion.
(PWC 05 – VCK 00)
Prince of Wales’ boys were scintillating in their attacking play early on in the game as they scored their 2nd try in the 8th minute of the game through their hard-working skipper Wenura Chathuranga who barged over the try line after turning over the ball from a Vidyartha ruck. D.Peiris bisected the uprights with ease to add the extra points. (PWC 12 – VCK 00)
After 10 minutes of exciting rugby by the Cambrians. Vidyartha finally added their first points on the board through their playmaker cum Captain I.Lakmal as he fired across an easy 25 meter penalty kick after a Cambrian player was penalized for not releasing the ball after being tackled.
(PWC 12 – VCK 03)
Cambrian full back S.Kodituwakku scored his first try for the game in the 14th minute to extend the Prince of Wales lead as he touched down under the posts after breaking through the unstructured Vidyartha defense line. D.Peiris made no mistake with the conversion.
(PWC 19 – VCK 03)
Vidyartha dominated the scrums with their burly forwards winning all of their scrum feeds or overpowering the Cambrian scrums. Vidyartha showed glimpses brilliance as their prop-forward H.R. Fernando led a well-organized rolling maul in the 18th minute to score their 1st try for the afternoon as Cambrians failed to hold onto a marauding Vidyarthians. Skipper I.Lakmal’s conversion kick went astray. (PWC 19 – VCK 08)
Vidyartha forwards once again worked their magic deep inside Cambrian territory as H.R Fernando scored his 2nd pushover try through another strong rolling maul. I.Lakmal failed to add extra points. (PWC 19 – VCK 13)
With only few minutes away from the half-time whistle, Vidyartha reduced the deficit as the Cambrian defense line was penalised for offside play by referee and I.Lakmal successfully kicked the oval-shaped ball right through the posts.
Half Time: Prince of Wales 19 – Vidyartha 16
After the resumption, both teams played to their strengths by letting their speedy three quarters to get into the act more in the early stages of the 2nd half under the scorching sun.
Neither team added more points to their tally before Cambrian winger L.Lakshan sprinted 35 meters to score the 4th Prince of Wales try after he received a long cut-out pass from his outside center V.P Fernando. D.Peiris made the conversion easily. (PWC 26 – VCK 16)
On the stroke of 60 minutes, Vidyartha scored a fascinating team try through P.D Paradehiwatte after their forwards and backs combined perfectly to near the Cambrians score once again. Captain I.Lakmal made no mistake with the conversion kick. (PWC 26 – VCK 23)
Both number 8s and full backs from either team were the key play-makers as they controlled their forwards and backs to execute game plans accordingly. Cambrian full back S.Kodituwakku out-classed his opposite number as he chased down and collected an elegant grubber kick by his fly-half to score his 2nd try and extend his team score further more in the 65th minute. D.Peiris failed to bisect the posts with the conversion kick.
(PWC 31 – VCK 23)
S.Kodituwakku completed his hat-trick off tries as he broke through the tired Vidyartha defense in the 70th minute to touch down under the posts handing his team the clear-cut advantage of winning the game in the final 10 minutes. D.Peiris made short work of the conversion.
(PWC 38 – VCK 23)
Vidyartha had to put up a near impossible comeback if they are to win the game in the dying minutes of the match but they were determined and worked hard with the will to win as their skipper I.Lakmal fended off few Cambrian defenders to score the 4th Vidyartha try of the match. I.Lakmal failed to convert his own try. (PWC 38 – VCK 28)
Prince of Wales’ team had a memorable and a superior game with less number of mistakes compared to their opponents and they rounded off their win to secure their place in the semi-final with D.Peiris putting over a penalty kick in the final play of the game.
Full Time: Prince of Wales’ 41 – Vidyartha 28
Referee – Irshad Amin
ThePapare Player of the Match – S.Kodituwakku (Cambrian full back)
