CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – The Peterites have done it again. They have retained the General Deshamanya Denis Perera Memorial Trophy for the sixth successive year.
On Saturday, at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy, they produced another splendid performance to beat their arch-rivals Trinity College 22-10 and to stay unbeaten in the current Inter-Schools season.
St. Peter’s also went on to record their third successive victory as they continued their dominance in the Under-19 Division One Segment ‘A’ Group 2A points table.
Even then, the Peterites had a shock start to the game as they conceded a try to the opposition in the very first minute of the game but managed to snatch the lead 12-7 at half time.
Trinity, of course, had their hopes alive as they kept the momentum and reduced the gap to 10-12 shortly after the break and they went into the decisive last 10 minutes of play trailing by just five points (10-15).
However, St. Peter’s preserved their best for the last as they decided to run the ball from their own territory with dynamic full back Kushan Tharindu sprinting his way a good 40 metres to set up their match winning try.
From the very next move, playmaker Sudesh Jayawickrama brushed aside a couple of defenders and sent the ball out to Skipper Ashen Madugaspe, who added the finishing touches to seal the contest in their favour.
Meanwhile, Royal College powered their way to another smashing 44-3 victory over Zahira College in their Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament encounter played at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo.
The home side were held 3-3 at half time but cut loose magnificently after the turnaround to add 41 unanswered points in the form of four goals, two tries and a penalty as they cruised to their third successive win this season.
After a scrappy first half, Royal got their act together well with their forwards and the three quarters making up a solid combination with Disas Pathirana, Charuka Senevirathne, Kavinash Srikanth, Akram Faruk and Thanvir Hassen doing the scoring.
