Slender one point loss dislodges Trinity’s position as table leaders
Yesterday was a day full of surprises as title contenders Trinity College Kandy lost their stronghold from the points table in the Singer Under-20 School Rugby League Division I ‘A’ after four upsets which resulted in teams being shuffled.
Trinity suffered a shock 18-17 defeat at the hands of St. Joseph’s College at Longdon Place, which eventually proved to be too costly for them. The slender one-point defeat dislodged Trinity’s position as table leaders putting Dharmaraja College’s hopes of lifting the league title intact. With their game to be played today against hometown rivals St. Anthony’s College, Dharmaraja are in the lead as Trinity slides down to second place.
Royal won against St. Joseph’s last week. - Pic by Amila Gamage
After Wesley College scored a resounding 24-14 win against giant killers Science College at Mt. Lavinia, they moved a place up to third, keeping their aim of finishing as one of the top three teams, high. They swapped places with St. Peter’s College who suffered a major blow against Kingswood College who recorded their second successive win at 41-15 at Bogambara.
St. Peter’s are at fourth in the table with four wins and three losses in seven outings. In another twist of events at the Royal Complex, Royal College players walked out of the field in the 59th minute of the game alleging their opponents Isipathana College threw punches on them whilst play was in progress. The match was levelled at 20-all but the very moment Royal players walked out Isipathana posted an uncontested converted try to win the game by 27-20 and thus walked out with the Milroy Fernando Trophy. However this outcome seldom affected Royal’s position in the points table as they have climbed to the top by two places and are now in fifth position.
From the bottom half comes Kingswood to sixth place after their resounding win against St. Peter’s. This enabled Kingswood to jump four places up as they took wings from the bottom of the table to be in sixth slot. Next to them are giant killers Science who was pushed down two places to seventh after their defeat to Wesley. At eighth are St. Anthony’s College who will lock horns with Dharmaraja today with an aim to probably create the fifth upset of the week. Worthy winners St. Joseph’s despite their one-point triumph against Trinity lost one place and have moved down to ninth. Defending champions Isipathana who defeated Royal yesterday too lost a place and are fixed at the bottom of the table.
Today, Dharmaraja will have to clear a crucial hurdle against hometown rivals St. Anthony’s at Bogambara. Considering the outcomes that took place yesterday, this match too can be described as vital for Dharmaraja who are looking better after each game. In the coming weekend all teams will enjoy a week’s layoff as Sri Lanka observes Vesak Week.
In the Division I ‘B’ segment S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia are going great guns, with a six-out-of-six-win record, as they aim for a possible promotion to the top group. The Thomians enjoy a one-horse run in this group and their latest victims were Lumbini College, who were massacred by a massive margin of 95-0 last weekend.
They also beat Division I ‘A’ table leaders Trinity in a traditional game a few weeks ago and are well set for a strong return to the top group. D.S. Senanayake College and Ananda College battle at second and third places aiming for a possible promotion. From the Division I ‘C’ Piliyandala Central enjoy a clean run with six wins under their belt while St. Benedict’s College are following them with five wins and a defeat in six matches.
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