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Last gasp try saves Royal's blushes
By Aubrey Kuruppu
Royal 10, Kingswoods 10
If territorial advantage decided a winner of a rugby football game, this one would have been Royal's all the way, but in the end they had to be satisfied with a 10-all draw in their key Inter-School rugby clash with Kingswood at Bogambara yesterday. Kingswood who produced two superb tries in the first half through Number 8 Perera and fullback Eranda Weerakkody were strongly subdued in the second and hardly did any attacking. They tried to sit on their 10-5 lead.

A drop kick by Nalaka Weerakkody and a short tap from Manju took play into the Royal half about 15 minutes after the start. Jabbar pounced on a loose ball and surged ahead. Weerakkody stepped in and slipped a pass to Perera who spotted the gap and went over to score. Inspired Kingswood kept on attacking and minutes later produced a peach of a try. The defence was drawn skillfully and the ball was handed over to Weerakkody who joined the line. He made a bee line to the touchline and went over by the left corner flag. Kingswood led 10-0 at this stage.

Royal's reply was instant. A free kick by Wijewardena (the skipper in place of injured Dissanayake) saw play being taken near the Kingswood goal line. The Royal pack took control and lock Dhanushka Rajapakse touched down to cut the deficit to 10-5. This was the score at half time. Kingswood made too many mistakes in this half and put themselves under added pressure. However Royal could not make good use of the free kicks which came their way as they were kicking into a strong head wind.

Weerakkody was astray with a 35 yard penalty and minutes later with an attempted drop kick, time was running out fast and Kingswood were defending their line with fierce determination. At this stage center Ranjith Jayasundare went over by the right corner flag. This last gasp try certainly saved Royal's blushes. Bahudeen was once again erratic with his kicks at goal. Kingswood skipper Faizal Manja who made a couple of dangerous breaks early on, left the field after about 20 minutes and never returned. One wonders how much his absence affected the team. In truth, the home team allowed Royal to dominate them for much of the match.

Referee: Dilroy Fernando.
Under 15 Kingswood beat Royal 10-0; Under 13 Royal beat Kingswood 10-7

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