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Sports

Wesley lads show 'em how
beat S. Thomas' by 7 points to 3
By M. Shamil Amit
Wesley 7, S.Thomas' 3
In a game of missed opportunities Wesley prevailed to get the better of S.Thomas' by seven points (one goal) to three (one penalty) win after being led by three points to nothing at the short whistle in their Singer inter-school rugby tournament match played at Longdon Place yesterday.

The score at the end indicates a close finish, but the Wesleyites were more on the attack than their opponents and were unfortunate in not making a bigger score. They were superior in the line outs, scrum and the forwards clicked but they failed to convert this advantage into points.

The Wesleyites grassed the first chance they got when a 30 meter penalty for an infringement was kicked astray by skipper and scrum half Rukshan Omar. But they went on the attack and put the Thomians under pressure. The Thomians making inroads to Wesley territory made use of the penalty offered almost opposite the post which full back Nilukshan Muttetugama made no mistake. With both sides playing fast and open rugby, neither were able to do any scoring and the score remained 3-0 at the short whistle in favour of the Thomians.

Resuming in the second half the Wesleyites came back with a set plan and went on the attack immediately and in the sixth minute full back Anura Priyantha going for a drop goal missed out but Thomian full back Nilukshan Muttetugama who had ample of time to kick the ball away to safety fumbled which resulted in Wesley winger Naushki Fareez sprintintg more than 25 meters grabbing the ball from Nilukshan's custody and going over for a try for skipper Rukshan Omar to add the extra points and give Wesley the lead.

The Thomians led by number eight Namal Rajapakse, in a do or die effort made many moves but were held back by the gallant defence of the Wesleyites. They came closer to taking the game but could not make holes in the stonewall defence put up by the Wesleyites.

With the Thomians putting in all their resources came into the Wesley territory in the dying minutes of the game, but referee Aruna Jayasekera blew the long whistle, thus giving Wesley a 7-3 win. Nevertheless the spectators were given their money's worth with two of the top teams in the inter-school rugby circuit dishing out top class rugby. In their last outing Wesley scored a 39 points 3 point win over Carey.

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