Spirited Vidyartha stun favourites Dharmaraja
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Despite many errors from both sides, Vidyartha College stunned their hometown rivals Dharmaraja College, securing a thrilling 29-22 win in the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2023 encounter played at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy yesterday.
Vidyartha winger Rusith Thamodya emerged the star of the day for the winners, raking up 19 points from the team’s final tally. He shot over five penalties – four of which came during the first half – and converted the two tries, to end up with a neat success rate in kicking. Dharmaraja, despite losing, earned vital bonus point for scoring four tries, out of which only one was converted.
Vidyartha repeated last season’s performance against the Rajans
Last season Vidyartha recorded their first-ever win against Dharmaraja by 17-8 and despite creating a few upsets in the ongoing season, the Rajans succumbed to their second straight defeat in a span of two years against the neighbouring opposition.
Both teams were sloppy in ball handling during the first half of the game, which ended at 12-all. But the second half was a total different affair, with both sides. Five yellow cards were handed for both teams – three on Dharmaraja and two to Vidyartha – yet the second half was played under electric pace.
Vidyartha opened the account with an early penalty in the third minute put over by Thamodya, who followed with three more successful three-point kicks in the 10th, 16th and 35th minutes, virtually from the same spot. Dharmaraja led the game twice during this phase when winger Charuka Jayawardene braced a try in the sixth minute, followed by a conversion from fullback Shehan Rajapakse, his only successful kick in four attempts.
Vidyartha regained the lead in the 16th minute, only to concede the lead back to Dharmaraja following an unconverted try from winger Akila Jayasinghe. But with the fourth successive penalty kick from Thamodya leveled the scores at 12 by halftime.
Five minutes following the turnover, Vidyartha opted to go for bigger points when they were awarded penalties and winger Udeesha Ratnayake was successful in breaching the Dharmaraja defence as his team led 19-12. Dharmaraja did not waste much time to respond with a try from No.8 Nimesha Peiris in the 48th minute, but still trailed by two points after Rajapakse’s conversion went astray.
After an intense battle Vidyartha decided to expand their lead by penalty opportunities, and Thamodya added another three points to the tally in the 56th minute to have his team a five-point buffer at 22-17. Dharmaraja continuously retaliated with vengeance, only to be thwarted by Vidyartha defenders. But the eventual winners were flummoxed with a try off centre Isuru Bandara, who helped Dharmaraja level the scored at 22-all in the 66th minute.
Vidyartha, who dominated the Dharmaraja 22 in the final phase of the game, were awarded a few penalties but with Thamodya being handed a yellow card in the 61st minute, they opted to attack the opposition defence. With the game running beyond fulltime, Vidyartha managed to put their bitter defeat of 3-47 from last week, with a stunning 29-22 win after centre Deshan Balasuriya found a passage to brace a try completing their continuous effort to breach the Dharmaraja defence.
Vidyartha prop Mohamed Shaheed and winger Thamodya were handed yellow cards in the 19th and 61st minutes, while Dharmaraja No.8 Nimesha Peiries, lock Prabuddika Madushan and skipper and lock Pujana Ratnayake were sent off for 10 minutes in the 15th and 42nd minutes and during extra time.