CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – St. Peter’s College went through some anxious moments before recording a nail-biting 11-5 victory over arch-rivals Royal College in their Inter-Schools Under-19 ‘A’ Division League Rugby Tournament Group 2A encounter played at Bambalapitiya.
In a scrappy game of rugby, the Peterites held their nerves under tremendous pressure to snatch a dramatic win having collected their points from one try and two penalties after leading 3-0 at half time.
Royal, of course, gave a glimpse of their potential when they scored the first try of the match shortly after the break with a typical rolling maul but thereafter, they were denied of any points by a determined St. Peter’s outfit.
St. Peter’s also went on to retain the B. C. Anghie Memorial Trophy for the second successive year.
Anyway, this was a game of missed opportunities as both teams fumbled with the ball and never looked like producing the usual dazzling rugby with their set of three quarters.
But instead, this high-profile clash produced only a couple of tries with the Peterites scoring their only try during the dying moments of the game to seal the contest in their favour.
Even this try came from a missed opportunity as the Royal full back Nabeel Yehiya fumbled under pressure in their own territory and Sudesh Jayawickrema picked up the loose ball and went on to dive over almost under the post.
Yumith Shihara missed the conversion but that did not have any impact as the final whistle was blown immediately giving St. Peter’s a morale boosting victory.
Earlier, Shihara drew first blood for the Peterites in the 21st minute with a superb penalty and was in the act once again when he fired across another penalty midway in the second half.
The Peterites will have a rest next week and will resume their campaign on July 1 with an away game against Dharmaraja while Royal take on Science College next week at Mount Lavinia.