Another one Bites the Dust!
When Royalists and Wesleyites gathered at the CR & FC grounds on the 19th of May they wouldn’t have expected to see such a competitive and closely fought nor the sad reaction of some fans when their side lost. Coming into the game, Wesley were the clear underdogs as they faced a Royal outfit that has been unbeaten throughout the season. But that wasn’t any deterrent as the Wesley side game guns blazing from the start itself.
Wesley kicked off preceding but at the start the score remained nil with both teams challenging each other’s territory. Royal threw everything at Wesley with their scrums, mauls, and pick and drives but it seemed like they were facing a defence with no holes as they denied Royal points. But that changed when Royal was awarded a penalty and Dulan took no time to give Royal a 3 point lead. But there was a near instantaneous response from Wesley with a penalty being awarded their way and Murshid Zubair making no mistake with his kick.
Then Royal showed the reason why they were unbeaten throughout the season using their famous rolling maul and gaining yards and forcing Wesley a mistake. The resulting penalty was taken as a quick tap and Sasitha Siyath carried it to the touchline and Dulan booted in the conversion.
But Wesley came back through winger Panitharan who dashed his way along the touch line and scored at the near post. The things got worse for Royal with Wesley scoring a try as a result of a beautiful break which was scored by Kavindana Perera. And with the conversion coming through with no mistake the score stood at 17- 10 in favour of Wesley.
The Royal fought back gallantly with Himantha Hirushan using his usual power to burst through the defence and this resulted in another try which was not converted. Wesley had momentum on their side going into half time with a 2 point lead. But Royal fought back and cemented the comeback when Dulan scored a penalty.
After this point the Rugger match itself dropped down with constant interference by the crowds which forced the referee Dinka Peries to stop the match multiple times. Finally, the game finished at 18-17 in favour but it seemed that with the finish of the match something else had started in the middle of the pitch. Wesley supporters had rushed at the Royal Prefects and Stewards which resulted in an altercation but making the situation worse was the fact that Ovin Askey who was the Rugger captain of last year and a current prefect was brutally attacked by 5 or 6 people. These crowd’s violence continued when even the referee was attacked where he had to be taken out of the ground surrounded by a brigade of Police officers. Questions remain as to why let these violent actions take place after an amazing rugby match. At the end Royal continues their unbeaten despite the aggressive challenge put up by the Wesley College Rugby Team and remains at the top of the table.
Photo Album : Photographic Society | Media Unit