Singer League 2018 Joes end Peterites’ unbeaten run

The Joes with the Father Basil Wiratunge Shield

By Shamseer Jaleel

St. Joseph’s College ended St. Peter’s College’s unbeaten run and dashed their hopes of regaining the league when they edged them out 10-5 last weekend. 

With this win, the Joes retained the Father Basil Wiratunge Memorial Shield. 

Meanwhile, Trinity too scored a good win over Wesley College while Royal College continued their unbeaten run when they brushed past Isipathana in a one-sided affair.

Trinity beat Wesley 

The 21-11 win against Wesley College at Pallekelle ensures that Trinity College keep alive their hopes of featuring in the Milo knockout rugby tournament soon after the completion of the league.

At halftime, it was Wesley who led 8-7. This was the farewell game for Trinity Head Coach Lote Raikabulla, who was with the school for the last two years. He took Trinity to third position and this year after the Wesley encounter Trinity finds itself in sixth position.

Trinity opened the scoring through an Akitha Sakalasooriya try and conversion to take an early 7-0 lead. Wesley hit back through an Aquib Thahir try but Zubair missed the conversion. After some even exchanges, a Mursheed Zubair penalty put Wesley ahead 8-7 at halftime.

After the turnaround, the off-form Warren Weerakoon scored a try after a long break. An Akitha conversion gave Trinity a 14-8 lead. Mursheed reduced Wesley’s deficit with a penalty to take the scores to 14-11 in favour of the Kandy outfit. Niranjan Vitharana scored the last Trinity try, which gave Minindu Jayasundera a perfect conversion. Trinity will need to win their last game to finish in sixth position in order to secure their berth in the knockout encounters.

Royal outclass Isipathana

Defending champions Royal College marched to an easy 41-7 win over Isipathana College in order to keep the Major Milroy Fernando Trophy safe at Reid Avenue.The game was played under wet conditions which made handling the ball difficult for both sides. Mubeen Faleel scored the first Royal try and Isipathana seemed to never recover from this. They played under pressure with a young side. Prop forward Sasith Siyatha scored the second Royal try with Dulan Goonawardena on target with the conversion to take the scores to 12-0. Two quick tries by Royal from Thulaib Hassen and Janidu Dilshan lifted them to a commanding 22-0 at halftime.

The second half saw an avalanche of tries from Royal, starting with Skipper Shabth Feroze, who scored back-to-back tries for Royal to take them to 36-0. The last Royal try was scored by replacement forward Rajindra Jayasuriya. Isipathana could only muster one try through Manoj Gautham with skipper Manilka Ruberu slotting home the conversion.

Joes edge out Peter’s

St. Joseph’s College ended their traditional rivals St. Peter’s unbeaten run, seeing more hope of them claiming the league fade further, when they were edged them out 10-5 in a tense game. 

Tharindu Maduranga Maduranga scored the Joes’ first try while Shehan Eranda scored the latter try for the Maradana outfit. The lads from Bambalapitiya scored their only try when Keneth Wimaladasa touched down. The Peterites made a number of handling errors which cost them the game and probably the league as well.

In the plate segment, St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota beat D.S. Senanayake 16-14 while S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia also managed to defeat Dharmaraja College 17-7 after leading 10-0 at halftime. 

Kingswood beat Zahira

Meanwhile, Kingswood College beat Zahira College by 18 points (2 tries, 1 conversion, 2 penalties) to 5 points (1 try) in their Singer League Under-19 rugby encounter worked off at the Bogambara Stadium yesterday.

At halftime the scores were tied at five apiece. The referee for the match was Ajith Kumara.