St. Peter’s ease into final

St. Peter’s rang the warning bell to their opponents in the Milo President’s trophy knockout tournament when they crushed St. Anthony’s by 30 points (one goal, four tries, one penalty) to 14 (two goals) in the first semi final played at the Royal Complex grounds, Reid Avenue yesterday. Thus the Peterites booked an easy passage to the final to be played next Saturday. The winners led 8-0 at the breather.

The Peterites though looking a bit unsettled in the first half got their act together in the second half by scoring at will as they had the Antonians under control by going over for four tries with the minimum of fuss to the solitary try scored by the Antonians. It was the combination of defence and attacks working together that made the win look so easy for the Petes.

On the other hand the Antonians had nothing much to offer and it was simply not their day, having suffered defeats at the hands of the Petes in the quarter finals of the same tournament and the crucial league championship match this year, where they were expected to give a better performance. However nothing worked for them in defence or in attack.

It was the Petes who got the score moving when in the tenth minute of the game second row Harsha Weerakkody made no mistake with a 30 metre penalty offered for an infringement. Following this the Peterites were on the attack making some sporadic moves and succeeded with their three quarter line working likeclock-work and wing three quarter Viduranga Karunaratne went over for an unconverted right corner flag try.

The Peterites with a slender 8-0 lead at the end of the first half came into the second half with a new game plan. In the fifth minute they scored their first try which was through a 40 metre run by wing three quarter Jerald Canute. Five minutes later following a melee Peterite flanker Sharo Fernando was sin binned. The Antonians took advantage of the situation and kept the Petes pinned to their end of territory which ultimately ended in a five metre scrum. From this scrimmage Antonian centre Rohan Wijesiri crept over for a try which he himself goaled. The Peterites smarting from this blow and the loss of flanker Fernando came back with a vengeance. They replied in rapid fire fashion by going over for three successive tries within a space of ten minutes. The first was in the 20th minute from Jerald Canute (his second try) followed by hefty second rower Arjuna Bopitiya which was converted by Harsha Weerakkody and in the 29th minute by flanker Poornaka Delpicithra scored a peach of a try mooted by playmaker Irfath Meedin.

The Antonians in a do-or-die effort scored a consolation try three minutes from the end when centre Krishantha Rajapakse grabbed the ball from a Peterite player and sprinted nearly 70 minutes to score under the post. Rohan Wijesiri added the extra points. Aruna Jayasekera refereed. The finalk will now be betweenSt.Peter’s and the winnersof today’s between Isipathana and Kingswood at the same venue.

Mahanama thrash St Benedict’s 50-10

Mahanama thrashed St Benedict’s by a whopping 50 points to 10 in the Premier trophy semi final encounter which preceded the encounter between St Peter’s and St Anthony’s at the same venue. They will now meet the winners of the second semi final between Nalanda and Piliyandala Central in the final to be played on October 14.