Royal and Peterites remain unbeaten

By Shamseer Jaleel

 Both Royal and St Peter’s ended the Singer League round one not only unbeaten but also kept their hopes alive for the league trophy.

Royal outclass Trinity

Royal 39 points

Trinity 7 points

 Trinity played well in the initial 15 minutes of play but Royal settled and rattled the Trinitians in a 6 try blitz at Royal Sports Complex in their 74th Bradby Shield’s first leg. At the short breather, it was Royal who led 19 to nothing.

Royal played according to a pattern and were simply outstanding. Trinity opted to keep Warren Weerakoon for the latter half, which did not make any difference to the score line as he was a well-marked man. They also lost out on deputy skipper Naveen Rajaratnam due to an injury. Trinity defended well in the initial 15 minutes of play plus the 10 minutes in the early part of the second half with some attacking moves, but Shabith Feroze and company were unstoppable with a 6-try blitz, and not only remained unbeaten but also led the group end of round one.

Royal tries were scored by Janidu Dilshan (2), Sasith Siyatha, Bimsara Induruwa, Maleesha Madumewan and Himantha Hirushan with Dulan Gunawardena accurate on three conversions plus one penalty kick by Fadil Adhan, while for Trinity their only try was scored by their dashing winger, Vishwa Ranaraja with skipper Avishka Sheik accurate on the conversion.

Zahira outclass Rajans

Zahira 26 points

Dharmaraja 8 points

Zahira outclassed Dharmaraja 26/8 in a one-sided affair after leading 19/3 at the short breather. This will make sure Zahira moves to the 4th position while the Rajans will occupy the last place, and will need to move towards the Plate segment along with DS from the same group. Though Rajans have one more encounter against Wesley on May 5 it’s very unlikely it will change their fate.

Peterites hand off DS

St Peter’s 43 points

DS 7 points

St Peter’s College handed off DS in another one-sided affair at Havelock Park beating them convincingly 43/7 after leading 26/7 at the short breather. With this win the lads from Bambalapitiya will end round one unbeaten and will meet Trinity in their first second-round encounter in one week.

Joes scrape through

St Joseph’s 26 points

Kingswood 22 points

Joes went through some anxious moments before securing a well-earned 26/22 win over Kingswoodians. The Randles Hill School displayed good quality rugby but their poor lineout throws and jumping cost them the game where they lost nearly 6 of their own throw-ins.

With this win, Joes will occupy number 2 position in their group behind Royal.

Isipathana edges out Wesley

Isipathana 22 points

Wesley 17 points

Isipathana ran into safety after a hard-fought second-half rally by Wesley, who missed out by just a try difference in their encounter. At the short breather, Isipathana led 22 to nothing.

But come second half, it was a different ball game, as the Wesley outfit dominated proceedings by scoring 17 points. They kept attacking near the 5-meter line in the last 10 minutes of play, but Isipathana Defense was rock solid and no space was given.

With this win, Isipathana will end round 1 behind St Peter’s at number 2 position.