Royal huff puff and blow the Joes down
View(s):Royal College was forced to fight hard to survive a spirited late surge by St. Joseph’s College, before eventually moving to a 14 (1 try, 3 penalties)- 7 (1 goal) victory in a Singer Division 1 ‘A’ clash at the Royal Sports Complex yesterday which came to life only late in the piece.
A Royal forward, with the ball, tries to make a break but is held back by a Josephian defender. - Pic by Amila Gamage
Center Pasindu Peiris went over the line for Royal’s only try but that was all they required as they once again benefited from the accuracy of their kicking ace, fly half Rimze Jamaldeen. The Josephian’s try magic came through their tenacious Centre Vishmitha Peiris.
Although leading through much of the match, Royal had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead after enjoying the bulk of possession during the opening half and much of the second half. However, their execution was once again off the mark, and they were nearly made to pay for their profligacy by a St. Joseph’s unit that kept themselves in the match with determined defense and opportunistic attack.
Royal starte4d the game excellently, scoring in just the third minute of the game, after the exploded off the blocks. Before the Joes had time to fall into position, Perera was powering through their ranks for a try which was left unconverted by Jamaldeen.
With that the first half then rapidly deteriorated into a dull game of excessive kicking, with Royal in particular overdoing it. Fortunately the Joes were not playing that much more sensibly and things stayed unchanged at 5-0, heading into the half.
The second half saw a revitalized Josephian unit much more willing to run at Royal, who throughout the match were struggling to make their tackles stick. They became a bit overzealous with it though, and gave away a penalty in the sixth minute which Jamaldeen converted giving Royal an 8-0 lead.
Instead of diminishing St. Joseph’s resistance, the penalty had the reverse effect of resurrecting them. They twice came close to scoring dancing dangerously close to Royal’s try line, then missed a penalty before eventually making their breakthrough. Peiris darted through the heart of Royal’s back line to leave an easy conversion for Shamilka Kurumbalapitiya.
Following this sudden burst though, Royal decided it had had enough of this threat and began countering with runs of their own. Their renewed pressure was just too much for the Joes and they finally wilted, yielding two penalties in the space of five minutes. Jamaldeen, Royal’s skipper, converted both of them to firmly seal the coffin on his resurgent foes.
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