Thomians down Eagles to record second win
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Thomians were defensive against St. Anthony's
After a hard-fought battle, S. Thomas’ College enjoyed a 24-17 win over St. Anthony’s College in their second match of the Dialog Schools League Rugby Tournament played at Mt. Lavinia yesterday after leading 14-7 at half time. This thrilling game saw S. Thomas’ secure the Father Angelo Rossati Trophy, scoring from three converted tries and a penalty, while St. Anthony’s earned their points from three tries and a conversion.
Despite the heavy downpour at Mount Lavinia, the match kicked off as scheduled. S Thomas’ were quick to take the lead, scoring 14 points within the first 12 minutes. The weather did little to dampen the spirits of the Thomians or the intensity of the game.
Haren Karunaratne opened the scoring for the Thomians with the first try, followed shortly by another from Seneshka Liyanagunawardena. Both tries were expertly converted by skipper Yehean Bulathsinhalage, giving the home team an early advantage of 14-0.
St. Anthony’s responded in the 21st minute with a try from Mohamed Faraz, following a rolling maul. Omitha Dissanayake converted the try brilliantly, narrowing the gap to 7-14. The first half saw mixed fortunes for both teams, with S. Thomas’ leading 14-7 at halftime despite the challenging conditions.
As the match resumed in the second half, St. Anthony’s launched a counter-attack from their own half. In the 41st minute, fullback Kalpa Lakmina, Oshan Gunaratne, and Ravindu Gregory combined brilliantly to set up Omitha Dissanayake for a try. Though the conversion was missed, the score tightened to 12-14, with S. Thomas’ still in the lead.
In the 44th minute, Thomian skipper Bulathsinhalage successfully kicked a 22-metre penalty, extending the home team’s lead to 17-12. The Thomians further solidified their advantage in the 61st minute when Liyanagunawardena scoring his second try of the game. With the conversion from his skipper the score went up to 24-12 in favour of the hosts.
St. Anthony’s fought back valiantly, with Akesh Sampath scoring a beautiful try from the left corner in the 66th minute, narrowing the gap to 17-24. Despite their efforts, St. Anthony’s could not bridge up the gap, as the Thomians emerged victorious.