Royal beats Science College 37-22

Four tries by Supun Warnakulasuriya

It was the 28th of March. The 2nd match for the season, awaited by the multitudinous rugby fans of College, is about to begin. Cheers and fireworks go off at the Royal College Sports Complex Grounds as the two teams march into the grounds, marking the start of another intense battle.

The game began with some early luck for the boys in red, as a clear blunder by the Royal Fullback gave way for Daminda Lakshitha to make the first try of the game right near the post. An easy conversion by Thanuja Kandamby brought the score to 0-7 with Science College on the lead.

The Royal team seemed to be put under some pressure as the visitors had gathered the first scores. This was seen by the intense and strong play that came in retaliation from the Royalists. The much needed breakthrough for the boys in blue and gold came over as Akash Iddawela crashed over the right corner line marking the first try for Royal. Ayendra Subasinghe’s conversion from the far right end failed.

Soon after the Royal side seemed to have made it to their a-game as Science College began to lose it early advantage rapidly. With three successive tries from Supun Warnakulasuriya on the far ends the game turned tables around with Royal leading at 20-7 by half time. All three conversion again failed.

The second half began with the Royalists, now with the upper hand pushing the Science College team under much pressure. The 48th minute saw fly-half, Ayendra Subasinghe making a drop goal just beside the opposing 22.

Soon after Science College got the opportunity to make a sound retaliation, somewhat owing to another blunder from the Royal side. The 52nd minute saw a bad clearance by Royal resulting in a try just beneath the uprights. the conversion however failed. Another penalty on the 59th minute resulted in a comeback by Science College with 23-15.

However all hopes for the boys in red faded away as their gave way for an easy try in the 60th minute. A miss-pass by Kandamby straight to the hands of Iddawela marked another try for Royal right beside the post, followed by Subasinghe’s conversion, raising the scores to 30-15. Warnakulasuriya didn’t seem to be satisfied with the score yet, as he made his 4th try for the day, breaking off from the the scrum to land right over the line. Once again Subasinghe converts successfully bringing the score to 37-15.

The final moments of the game saw last attempt by Science College to level the score as Dananjaya Fonseka scored followed by Kandambi’s conversion. Soon after the game came to an end with a player from Science College receiving a yellow card just seconds before play ended.

Thus Royal emerged victorious at the second encounter for the season retaining their winning streak.

Final score: Royal 37 (2G; 4T; 1DG) – Science 22 (2G; 1T; 1P)