St. Joseph’s College came from behind to defeat St. Anthony’s College 23 (4T 1P) – 20 (3T 1C 1P) as the Josephians solidified their push towards the Plate Championship in the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026.
The game was played at Longdon Place as the two teams kicked off the third week of Round Two in the Dialog Schools Rugby League.
Visitors St. Anthony’s College started off brighter, managing to get the first points off the boot of fullback Daham Perera.
This early penalty spurred on the Antonians as they went on to score the first try of the game, with the home side overwhelmed. Lakwin Manthilake was the try scorer, but Daham failed to add the extras. (SJC 00–08 SACK)
Daham received another shot at goal, however, he was off target again, which provided the home side with a way back into the game.
The Josephians were desperate for their opening points and got them through nippy No. 9 Akshan Rashminda, who spotted a gap and sniped through to dot down for the home side’s opener. Adriyano Candappa failed with the extras. (SJC 05–08 SACK)
With half-time approaching, the Antonians conjured up one final attack and were rewarded for their hard work as Lakwin added the finishing touch to yet another try from a maul, giving the Josephians a taste of their own medicine.
Half time: St. Joseph’s College 05 (1T) trail St. Anthony’s College 13 (2T 1P)
The second half began with the Josephians scoring first through Sathira Gunathilake. The big prop forward pummelled his way through the Antonian defence to score the opening try of the second half. Adriyano failed with the extras. (SJC 10–13 SACK)
The visitors struck back immediately through their No. 9 Bineru Vithanage, who snuck through to extend the Antonian lead.
Daham converted, and this meant the visitors’ lead jumped back into double figures. (SJC 10–20 SACK)
Adriyano had a horror day with both ball in hand and off the tee, but he made amends by adding the finishing touches to the Josephians’ third try of the game, giving a new lease of life to the lads from Maradana.
The conversion went astray; however, this spurred on the Josephians as they built from the try. (SJC 15–20 SACK)
St. Anthony’s had their fair share of chances to extend their lead, but discipline let them down as they conceded penalty after penalty, losing field position from within 5 metres of the Josephians’ try line and finding themselves defending their own line with minutes left in the game.
With four minutes left, the Josephians mounted an attack, sending Sathira over for his second try of the game, leaving Adriyano with the opportunity to kick them into the lead for the first time.
Unfortunately for him, his kick went astray, and the game was tied at 20–20. (SJC 20–20 SACK)
With nothing to separate the two sides and the visitors on the back foot, the Josephians mounted one final attack. The pressure proved too much for the Eagles to handle as they breached the offside line, conceding a penalty to Joes.
Adriyano, from right in front, stepped up and kicked over his first successful conversion of the evening, sealing a famous win for the Josephians and strengthening their push towards securing the Plate segment.
Full time: St. Joseph’s College 23 (4T 1P) beat St. Anthony’s College 20 (3T 1C 1P)
Swissteck Perfect Player of the Match: Sathira Gunathilake (SJC prop forward)
Points Breakdown:
St. Anthony’s College: Lakwin Manthilake 2T, Bineru Vithanage 1T, Daham Perera 1C 1P
St. Joseph’s College: Sathira Gunathilake 2T, Akshan Rashminda 1T, Adriyano Candappa 1T 1P
 – 20 (3T 1C 1P) as the Josephians solidified their push towards the Plate Championship in the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026. ){kind=link}