Trinity thrash Joes
Trinity College indicated their true intentions for the ongoing Dialog Schools League Rugby 2025 season after their 29-7 thrashing of St. Joseph’s College at Longden Place yesterday. The travelling Trinitians, who scored five tries and made two conversions, led 22-0 at half-time, completely dominating the Josephians, who earned their points through a solitary converted try.
Trinity were solid when in possession, neat and precise at set plays, whilst managing a flowing game. Their conduct on the field was commendably that of a professional unit, whilst the Josephians may have to brush up their attacking capabilities and go back to the drawing board before their next match.
A Trinity player is challenged by a St. Joseph's defender - Pic by Eshan Fernando
Trinity completely dominated the first half, as well as most of the second half, perhaps standing tall amongst the few evenly matched contenders for the title this season. They wasted very little time, mounting an early assault that resulted in No. 8 Akash Fernando scoring an unconverted try in the third minute off a maul to lead 5-0.
Trinity utilised a similar ploy for their next two tries in the sixth and 16th minutes, where flanker Nisith Kumarasinghe crossed the line on both occasions. Captain and fullback Shan Althaf, who had a decent outing, scored the third try to put his team in control as Trinity led 17-0.
The visitors were constantly on the attack, mostly through their backs, who created opportunities for the forwards to apply the finishing touches. However, in the 24th minute, their three-quarters opted to change the pattern and completed a flawless effort with winger Amar Manzil touching down in the far left corner for an unconverted try that gave them the bonus point.
After resuming with their 22-0 lead, Trinity continued to frustrate the Josephians, who looked desperate to break their scoreless streak. Eventually they managed to breach the Trinity defence in the 48th minute as captain and fly-half Bheeshma Jayasekara weaved through to make a perfect finish under the posts after a hard-fought effort. With fullback Nathan Gunaratne’s conversion, St. Joseph’s finally managed to add the points they were longing for, yet still trailed significantly by 7-22.
Following their solitary try, the Josephians found their lost tempo, but were perfectly thwarted by the Trinitians, who went on to add their fifth try through winger Minula Yaddehige in the 61st minute. Captain Althaf added the extra points, as Trinity went on to further frustrate the Josephians with a lead of 29-7 until the final whistle.