RUGBY NEWS - PETES SUCCUMB TO TRINITY PRESSURE With a brand new trophy on offer, the General (Deshamanya) Denis Perera Trophy, the match began with the traditional singing of the anthems of the 2 Colleges and the teams being introduced to the, guest of honour. the oldest living rugby captain of Trinity and the two principals, while the chief guest, Mrs. Denis Perera looked on. But at the end of the day, St. Peters had lost the last match of their league season, the trophy and the chance to be among the top three teams of the league. Trinity opened scoring moving the ball down their line from right to left for a try in the 2nd minute of the game to score by the left corner flag. The conversion was not on target and Trinity led 5 - 0. The Peterite reply came in the 10th minute by way of a try by Shamry Burah who scored mid left off a scrum near the Trinity goal line. Sandesh Jayawickremas kick at goal was not on target and the scores leveled at 5 - 5. In the 28th minute of the game Burah slipped while trying to carry the ball inside the Peterite goal line, accidentally touching down in defence and the resultant 5 metre scrum yielded a try for Trinity through their play maker, Tarinda Ratwatte, who ensured that it was converted, to lead 12 - 5 at the lemons. After the turn around, with the ball wet after the short shower of rain both sides committed handling errors but in the 8th minute Trinity managed to pounce on a loose ball inside 5 metres from the Peterite goal line and score mid left. The conversion was on target and Trinity had extended their lead to 19 - 8. The Peterite response to this came in the 13th minute of the second half when Burah put over a penalty awarded in front of the posts and reduced the lead to 19 - 8 in favour of Trinity. But this was short lived as Ratwattes kick to convert a penalty for an alleged high tackle by a Peterite, found target to bring the score to 22 - 8. The never say die attitude of the Peterites came to the fore thereafter when 2 tries were scored in quick succession, the first by skipper Kevin Dixon who goaled it himself (22 - 15) and the other by Burah who single handedly carried the ball about 30 metres to fashion a try mid right. This was goaled by Burah himself to level the score 22 all, reminiscent of the previous weeks match against Isipathana. But to the disappointment of the Peterites, in the 32nd minute of the second half, Trinity managed to score right of the uprights and Ratwatte ensured the additional points to lead 29 - 22, With the Peterites unable to come up with any scoring in the remaining 8 minutes, when referee Priyantha Gunaratne blew no side Trinity had won the match 29 - 22. The Peterites should blame themselves for this loss as they committed more handling errors at the breakdowns and continued with their pathetic display at the line outs. They almost looked novices at play in this sphere of the game (both in throwing and jumping), giving the impression that they lack coaching in how to win line outs. All junior games were also won by the Trinitians handsomely. So the schools league season for the Petes has come to an end and they will be ruing missed chances at the 2 drawn games (against Kingswood and Isipathana) for it is likely that they will end up a disappointing 4th if not 5th in the league. A consolation to be had is the fact that the team is young and handled better, should be a force to be reckoned with in the 2015 season. (Pictures will be posted on FB) Algi Wijewickrema Editor (SPC - OBU)
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 00:44:53 +0000