Semi-finals on from tomorrow
Three matches each on Monday and Tuesday will be on in the 19th Milo Schools Under-20 Knockout Rugby Championship which has reached the semi-final stages.
The tournament which kicked off last week from the quarter-final stage is expected to accelerate to its peak in spite of contrasting outcomes and occurrences took place. The cynosure of the tournament will be obviously on the President’s Trophy clashes which promise to produce the thrillers. Despite the main segment of the tournament, the President’s Trophy and the Premier Trophy being played in full, the Chairman’s Trophy saw only one match being played. The tournament which is a usual thrill-bringer however took place amidst clouts with five teams receiving walkovers from three segments.
The most action-packed quarterfinal game of all was played between St. Peter’s and Royal on Friday.
In the first semi-final of the President’s Trophy, hot favourites Dharmaraja College will take on Wesley College at 4.15pm at the Royal College Sports Complex tomorrow.
Dharmaraja coming out freshly after clinching their maiden Schools League Championship last week, on Thursday thrashed minnows C.W.W. Kannangara Maha Vidyalaya by 62-8. Dharmaraja after leading by 24-0 at halftime went on score from 10 tries and six conversions while conceding their opponents’ points from an unconverted try and a penalty. Wesley on the other hand was made to toil for their win by Science College before sealing their place in the semi-final with a 20-17 thrilling victory on Wednesday. Wesley held the upper hand of the game and led the halftime by 13-3 but their opponents were more energetic in the second session. After scoring from three tries, a conversion and a penalty Wesley managed to keep their heads high despite Science’s gallant effort which ended with a tally of two converted tries and penalty.
In the second semi-final another thrilling encounter is on the cards with League runners-up Trinity College and St. Peter’s College locking horns. They will meet on Tuesday at 4.15pm at the same venue. Trinity were set to play the first quarterfinal game last Tuesday but their opponents D.S. Senanayake College conceded the win through a walkover, the first of five in the tournament. Trinity’s opponents on Tuesday, St. Peter’s would have not made it if their quarterfinal rivals Royal College bluffed a vital drop kick on Friday. The quarterfinal game could be termed as the best game so far in the tournament with Royal and St. Peter’s finishing off at 27-all at the long whistle. By then both teams have scored off four tries, two conversions and a penalty each. The match was played for 10 more minutes on extra time but the result stood as it is which prompted the match officials go for a penalty shootout on drop goals. After five attempts both teams made three successful kicks which took the spectators on to the edge of their seats. In the second round of penalties St. Peter’s managed to put through both kicks while Royal missed one, which threw them out of contention of the Presidents’ Trophy.
In the Premier Trophy segment, traditional cricketing rivals Ananda College and Nalanda College will meet to settle a score in rugby in the first semi-final which is slotted to be played at 2.00pm at Royal College Sports Complex tomorrow. Ananda anyway were through to the semi-final stage after receiving a bye in the draw while Nalanda beat St. Sylvester’s College in the quarterfinal. The second semifinal match of this segment will be played between Prince of Wales’ College and Mahanama College at 2.00pm at the same venue on Tuesday. In the quarters Prince of Wales’ beat St. Benedict’s College while Mahanama beat Piliyandala Central.
The Chairman’s Trophy segment was affected heavily by no-shows. After three walkovers the semi-final matches are set to be played are of St. John’s College Nugegoda vs Carey College and Zahira College vs Vidyartha College. Both matches will be played at the CR&FC ground in Longdon Place at 2.00pm on Monday and Tuesday respectively. St. John’s was the only team to advance to this stage after beating St. Aloysius College Galle by 23-0 while Carey, Zahira and Vidyartha received walkovers from Dharmapala Pannipitiya, Maliyadeva Kurunegala and Royal Panadura.
The final of the President’s Trophy will be played on July 15 at 4.15pm at the Royal College Sports Complex. The finals of the Premier Trophy and Chairman’s Trophy will be played on July 14 at 4.30pm and 2.00pm respectively.
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