Part 2 of League Games: Royal, Ananda, and Kingswood Victorious as Royal Joins Trinity in Cup Championship from Group 3
By Brian Thomas — Reporting exclusively for SriLankaSports.com
Edited by Christopher Jordashe
Royal 27 – Vidyartha 7
@ Royal College Complex
Vidyartha looked under the pump in the Tuskers’ den, but Royal, despite moving the ball and playing open rugby and camping in the visitors’ territory, could not break the Vidyartha defense.
They made exciting moves, but the finishing touches to get on the scoreboard for Royal seemed a long wait. Unforced errors close to the Vidyartha whitewash were evident, while the Kandy lads kept their hopes alive with excellent defense, holding off the wrath of the Tuskers.
After holding off the superiority of the Royal forwards, Vidyartha added salt to the wound by scoring the first try of the match through a rolling maul and converted their effort to go 7–0 in the 17th minute.
The crowd fell silent, but Royal soon responded, as Vidyartha made a few mistakes by kicking aimlessly — and the schools’ rugby fraternity knows the awesome back three of Royal.
They scored their first try courtesy of Didula Jayasuriya, who broke through the Vidyartha defense to level the score with a converted try.
With the equalizer, Royal exhibited a barrage of phases but lacked the finishing touches. However, moving the ball with the aid of their three-quarter line, Royal touched down twice more to lead 19–7 at lemons.
After the turnaround, Royal — likely after a pep talk from coach Lewke — created two traditional rolling mauls, which Royal is well known for as a potent weapon.
They scored back-to-back tries, both unconverted, to win by 29 points to 7.
Vidyartha had to cope with a lot of pressure from Royal, but in attack, the Kandy lads could not break that Royal barrier.
Five tries by Royal earned them the bonus point.
Royal qualify for the Cup segment, along with Trinity, but the challenge awaits in Pallekele next week.
Ananda Beat St. Anthony’s 30–27 @ Nittawela
St. Anthony’s, in their own backyard, led 20–13, putting up a great show of open rugby by breaking the Anandian defense in the first half with three tries (two converted) and an all-important penalty to take the lead.
However, the home team had a suspect factor in their defense. They let Ananda touch down for a converted try and were also guilty of infringements, conceding two kickable penalties.
Halftime: St. Anthony’s 20 – Ananda 13
The second half proved why Ananda is a dangerous outfit. Their three-quarter line not only ran hard but also straight, with many good passages of play.
Let me turn the clock back. When Ananda played the prestigious Presidents’ Knockout Trophy this year in the Tier B division and beat St. Benedict’s in the finals, our rugby mentor Christopher Jordashe told me that Ananda could be a dark horse in the A Division League this year, as they had immense potential.
They have proved that they are an aggressive side, playing with purpose, and have excelled in many games with consistent performances. Kudos to their coaching staff and management.
The second half showcased their skill levels. St. Anthony’s was seen huffing and not knowing what to do as the Maradana boys created phases to touch down thrice, also adding another three points due to an Anthonian infringement to win by 30–27. This effort is a rabbit pulled out of the hat by Ananda to beat them in their own den.
The Anthonians had a consolation try in the second half, but the scoreline is all that matters: Ananda beat St. Anthony’s 30–27. Period.
Kingswood Beat Mahanama 27–17 @ Bogambara
Our final game of Week Four was hosted by Kingswood, who played against Mahanama at Bogambara.
The blue-jerseyed lads from Kandy, after their emphatic win against Zahira last week, came up with a sterling performance to say the least.
Kingswood opened scoring using their mobile forwards to go 5–0 upfront. However, this joy was short-lived as Mahanama struck back with a converted try and the pendulum swung 7–5 in favor of the visitors.
An infringement by Mahanama after a breakdown helped Kingswood regain the lead, 8–7, after an excellent kick off the tee by the blue jerseys.
Kingswood then used the phases with great intent to touch down again, though this time the conversion went begging.
Just before the breather, the Kingswood three-quarters got into the act and scored a converted try to head into lemons leading 20–7.
The turnaround revealed Kingswood’s weakness once again: their struggle with infringements and unforced errors. Mahanama opted for a kick at goal just five meters from the Kingswood whitewash to reduce the deficit to 20–10.
Kingswood then changed their game plan, attacking the visitors’ fringes by going over the left flank to extend the lead to an unreachable 27–10 in the 64th minute.
Mahanama, trailing by 17 points, did well to score in the concluding moments of play with a converted try but ultimately lost by 10 points.
Kingswood 27 – Mahanama 17
Coming up next: A script by Christopher Jordashe — Team of the Week. Stay focused.
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