Joes win in spite of rising tempers
Joes prevailed over Zahira - Pic by Ranjith Perera
St. Joseph’s muscled their way past Zahira to beat the home team 26-12 in a heated encounter at the latter’s College Grounds at Maradana, yesterday.
St. Joseph’s scored through four tries of which three were converted. Zahira scored from two tries and a conversion.
The two sides locked horns amid an atmosphere of hostility, both in the stands and on the field.
St. Joseph’s opened the scoring with an unconverted try from Tharindu Maduranga to put the visiting team on top. This created animosity in the Zahira bench and among the home supporters, with M. Rushdi receiving a yellow card courtesy referee Aruna Suranga.
Shamly Nawaz, the Zahira coach, too was sent off the field for indiscipline on the sidelines.
The visiting team added to their scoring with a second try from Tharindu de Alwis which the Joes’ captain, fly-half, Sameesha Virangana, converted.
St. Joseph’s Rasheen Gunawardena scored a third try which the skipper converted. The scores at half time were 0-19 to the visiting side.
The commotion continued during the break with a few Zahira supporters coming on to the field and throwing verbal abuse at the referee. The referee was under constant pressure throughout the game.
As the second half got underway, with Joseph’s dominating possession albeit a few runs from the Zahira three-quarter, the visitors scored yet another try. The forwards had worked the ball for some time in the ruck, and then Dulanjana Peiris receiving an open break down the side to score their fourth. Sameesha Virangana converted it. Scores Joseph’s 26, Zahira 0.
Zahira made a few runs past the Joseph’s defence but sloppy finishing denied them a chance to score, disappointing the home fans.
Captain Muammar Deen scored the home team’s first try which S. Minhaj converted giving them a glimmer of hope for a comeback. Zahira had a few more chances, but couldn’t make much use of it.
Two players from Joseph’s, Davindu Dilshan and Cheka Jayawardana, received yellow cards in the second half.
With time ticking down and pressure and hostility increasing, the home team were able to score their second try in the final moments of the game. This was scored by substitute M. Anasdeen off a well-delivered offload, but it was too late as the final whistle was sounded.
Angered home fans followed the referee as he walked into the dressing room shouting abuse.