Michael Gunaratne Trophy Retained For a Third Year Running.
Prefects
Tensions were high following a rather disappointing week for Royal College as they headed to Mount lavinia to face the Thomians at their home grounds.
The Thomians, who were on holiday following a well deserved big match win looked at the rugby encounter with hopes of bringing back yet another trophy and avenging last year’s 55-00 defeat.
Royal College proved their hunger for victory with a brilliant opening 10mins, where flanker Kevin Samarasekara and Yasis Rashmika both broke through the thomian defense to give Royal a 10-nil lead. (STC 00-10 RC)
Royal College’s dominance was shown as they held the home team inside their own half throughout the first 35mins, disallowing the thomians to threaten the Royal defense on a single occasion.
As the second half whistle was blown Royal College continued to dominate the thomians as skipper Thulaib Hassan found his way to the Thomian try line in the first 4mins. Dulan Gunawardena added two points with the first successful conversion of the game to bring Royal to a 17-nil lead. (STC 00-17 RC)
The Thomians eventually found their footing and began applying pressure on the Royal College defense.
Jaan De Zoysa hit his target as the Thomians scored their first 3 points of the game following a penalty kick for a ‘no arm’ tackle. (STC 03-17 RC)
The Thomians began their comeback as they charged at the Royal defense with all their might in the final quarter of the game. Yellow cards were awarded to Achintha Radeeshan and Samadhi Induwara 7-minutes apart, depleting the Royal outfit, giving the hosts hope.
Harith Senanayake finally broke through the Royal defense to score their first vital try in the game as the comeback seemed to be on. Jaan De Zoysa took the conversion and scored bringing the Thomians one try and conversion away from equalizing. (STC 10-17 RC)
The next 8 mins were a test of Royal’s endurance as they fought as if their lives were on the line against a vicious Thomian attack. The home team was held at bay however and Royal retained the Michael Gunaratne Trophy for a third year in a row.