Royal had a scare on their hands when St. Anthony’s Katugastota led 15-5 at the breather but they struck back in the second half to gather all their resources to win by 35 points (1 goal, 5 tries, 1 penalty) to 18 (3 tries, 1 penalty) in the Inter-School rugby football game played at the Royal Sports Complex grounds yesterday.
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| OUT OF MY WAY…A Royal player tries to break through a cordon of St. Anthony’s players at the Royal Sports Complex Grounds yesterday. |
Royal who came into the game with confidence of having won their first three games was surprised by the Antonians who put the first score on the board with the game just four minutes old through a try by skipper and flanker Tharindu Chanaka who caught the Royal defense napping.
However 11 minutes later Royal responded through a try by second row forward Lahiru Pavithra. The Antonians undeterred continued their attack and fought back and succeeded in scoring their second try in the 38th minute when winger Samith Dananjaya broke through the Royal defense to go over for a try.
The Antonians frustrated the Royalists further and surprised them again when centre Dhansha Dayan increased their lead with a peach of a try which had the home team guessing before referee Dilroy Fernando blew the short whistle.
The resumption saw the Royalists going flat out which also saw them coming into the game with a different game plan. It was second row Lahiru Pavithra who scored the first try for Royal who helped his side reduce the lead in the 15th minute.
Ten minutes later the Antonians increased the lead by a penalty booted over by full back Chamara Kumara. This was all that the Antonians were able to achieve as the Royalists from there on got their act together and never gave their opponents any chance.It was a barrage of tries coming from Royal with the first one by prop forward Yudith Karunaratne followed by tries from skipper center Duminda Attyagalle and prop forward Madusha Karunaratne which fly half Arshad Jamaldeen converted and later sealed the game for Royal by booting over a penalty in the dying stages of the game. |
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