With Diyath Fernando scoring the winning try sprinting a good 70 meters to the line, the Petes hammered in the last nail in the Trinity coffin as they secured a comfortable 29-20 win against the Lions at Pallekelle, retaining the Deshamanya Dennis Perera Trophy for the second consecutive year.
Full time score: St. Peter’s 29 (3T 1C 1P) to Trinity 20 (3T 1C 4P)
The Peterites have always found their way at Pallekelle over the past years but with a win against St. Anthony’s at home, Trinity had their spirits up, hoping to finish the season on a high.
St. Peter’s started off in style when Avishka Heenpalla cut through his opposing number, but he did not have the legs to go the final inch. They found a scoring opportunity soon after however, as referee D. Nimal was forced to award a penalty try after Peterite wing Shehan Madava was illegally tackled by a Trinity player. (5-0)
The equalizer from Trinity came right off the restart as Naween Rajaratnam’s move to step inward proved to be successful as he drew first blood for the home team. The conversion by Lashane Wijesuriya didn’t find its mark, but the teams were drawn level.(5-5)
The visitors got the opportunity to take the lead once again with a penalty kick off the boot of Stephan Sivaraj and a few minutes later Trinity equalized with a three-pointer of their own; this time Wijesuriya made no mistake (8-8).
The breakthrough for the Peterites came when their wing-three quarter Thakshina Nonis stormed down the line to score on the far left. Although Sivaraj missed the conversion, with a 12-8 lead in hand, the Peterites would have been confident of going into the break ahead of the Lions.
However, Trinity #9 Anuka Boyagoda had other plans. Taking the ball off the scrum and stepping his way through, Boyagoda made it to the try line to score under the posts. With the conversion sailing through, Trinity went into the dressing room with a 15-13 lead.
The efforts of Boyagoda proved futile, however, as St. Peter’s took control of the next 40 minutes. Trinity’s errors in ball handling and open play gave away two penalties and Stephan Sivaraj kicked the two 30 meter kicks helping St. Peter’s lay the foundation for a win. (19-15)
Photo Album – Trinity College vs St. Peter’s College – Schools Rugby 2016
The real turning point of the game however, was the yellow card handed to skipper Rahul Karunathilake. With Trinity scaled down to 14 men, Sivaraj took advantage of the infringement to add three extra points. (22-15)
Utilizing the one-man advantage, Diyath Fernando cruised through the shell-shocked Trinity team to score the winning try under the posts. As Sivaraj made the conversion count, St. Peter’s put the game beyond the Lions.
The last minute charge by Trinity’s Diluksha that saw Boyagoda crossing over the try line , proved to be in vain as the hosts secured a 29-20 win to retain the Deshamanya Dennis Perera trophy for a second successive year.
As the 2016 season comes to a close, it seems that Trinity College have still not being able to work together as a team and have not found answers for their poor kicking. They finish in 6th place on the League table, their worst finish since 2010, but still qualify to play the Milo Knockouts.
St. Peter’s would be happy with their performance in their last outing to end the season, as they claimed the 5th spot in the league.
ThePapare Player of the Match: Stephan Sivaraj
Final Score:
St. Peter’s 29 (3T 1C 4P)
Tries by Diyath Fernando, Thakshila Nonis & 1 Penalty try
Conversion & Penalties (4) by Stephan Sivaraj
Trinity 20 (3T 1C 1P)
Tries by Anuka Boyagoda 1 & Naween Rajaratnam & Diluksha Dange
Conversion and Penalty by Lashane Wijesuriya
