Action from the match between D. S. Senanayake and S. Thomas’
D. S. Senanayake College delivered another stunning blow as they brought down favourites S. Thomas’ College 13-10 in their Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament fixture played at Havelock Park yesterday.
The newcomers to ‘A’ Division rugby this season, played their hearts out to match the formidable opponents and went on to record a historic victory while collecting their points from two tries and one penalty. The Thomians, of course, made a promising start to the game and were able to take an early lead but they lost some momentum during the vital latter stages and ended up with a goal and a penalty.
This outstanding performance has also boosted D. S. Senanayake’s chances of making it to the Super Round Segment of the tournament as they went on to register their fourth win from Group 1A.
Even then, D. S. Senanayake were under pressure immediately after the kick-off as the Thomians launched a fierce attack through their forwards and were able to earn a couple of vital penalties inside their opponent’s territory.
After a successful third phase drive, winger Deshwan Navarathna crashed through the D. S. Senanayake defence for a corner flag try and fly half Yehan Bulathsinghalage added the extra points from a difficult angle to give them the lead 7-0 after just five minutes of play.
D. S. Senanayake found their rhythm almost immediately and came back storming into their opponent’s territory with a superb passage of play where they were able to turn around possession on a couple of occasions.
They managed to out-hook the strong Thomian pack during a crucial five metre scrum and worked their line on a few occasions before Skipper Jayathu Rajarathna added the finishing touches near the corner flag. Fly half Shehada Umagiliyage missed the conversion, but D. S. Senanayake were able to reduce the margin to 5-7 after 15 minutes of play.
From there onwards D. S. Senanayake kept the pressure on their opponents and never looked back until number eight Thiven Perera produced a typical try from a five-metre scrum.
Umagiliyage missed the conversion once again, but D. S. Senanayake went into half time with a slight advantage of 10-7.
The second half was a session of missed opportunities for both teams as the ever-reliable Bulathsinghalage fumbled with a couple of penalties from kicking range while Umagiliyage struck the upright with an upright penalty. The pressure also took a heavy toll on the Thomians as they were handed two yellow cards and D. S. Senanayake held their nerve for the last few minutes after Umagiliyage had landed the match winning penalty in the 63rd minute.
Chris Dhambarage
2 comments
Marvelous, what a weblog it is! This weblog gives valuable data to us, keep it up.
Aw, this was a very good post. Taking the time and actual effort to make a great article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and never seem to get nearly anything done.