Unimpressive Petes beat Science
St. Peter’s College continued their unbeaten run in the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2023 with a comfortable 29-0 win against minnows Science College at Bambalapitya yesterday, but the win clearly does not depict the true potential of a side that has much on offer.Despite scoring from five tries and two conversions, and leading the halftime by 17-0, the Peterite camp will have to get their act together in many areas, which would be crucial in the remainder of the ongoing campaign. If the unit from Bambalapitya are truly in contention for the main crown, they should lay their focus on ball handling and discipline on the field, which definitely thwarted a much comprehensive win with a bigger margin.
St. Peter’s easily missed out many an opportunity, mainly by knocking on the ball on many occasions, and from being handed at least four yellow cards, which would have been too costly against a much better side than Science, who are still winless after five encounters.
On the other hand Science were too scrappy, and were canny to slow down the game, which had both pros and cons. They missed more than a few scoring opportunities through, at least a couple of tries and four penalty kicks. What they lacked was the finish to openings forced on their opponents. They almost played the entire second half with an advantage of minus one and during the latter stage of the game sans two of their opposition players, but lacked what mattered most, a perfect finish.
The Peterites on the other hand, despite scoring five tries to earn bonus points, missed three tries, by two knock-ons and the ohter a well blocked landing. Had they been more consistent, as when the kickoff, the Peterites would have ended up scoring another half century as last week. The winners were quick to provide a shocker no sooner the kickoff took place, when three-quarter Dulaj Navodya intercepted a Science move and run more than a half of the field to score within a minute. With flyhalf Vindya de Mel making a perfect conversion, a high-scoring finish was evident for the hosts. Flanker Aiden Fernando made another interception in the tenth minute to give the Peterites their second try, as they led 12-0 with a failed conversion. Flyhalf de Mel added their third try to expand the lead to 17-0 in the 18th minute, but it was when gradually trouble overshadowed the Peterites, who were otherwise careless than being more cautious and dominant.
The second half began with a yellow card on winger Dineth Ranasinghe, who returned to score a brilliant try in the 47th minute. With his own conversion they expanded the lead to 24-0. Before their fifth and final try which came on the back of a brilliant three-quarter move, leading replacement winger Suleiman Riyaz to brace one on the far right, St. Peter’s had three possible tries missed, as they ended the game with a comfortable yet unimpressive 29-0 win.