Thomians inflict second defeat on Kingswood

by S. M. Jiffrey ABDEEN- Kandy Sports Corr.

St. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia made sure of securing the runner-up berth in the Schools Rugby tournament when they beat Kingswood College by 14 points (2 goals) to nil in their school under 20 `A' Division rugby tournament match played at the Bogambara stadium in Kandy. At half time there was no scoring.

Match started late and midway there was a further 15 minute delay for the change of jerseys by the Kingswoodians.

Most part of the match was played in heavy rain and the wet grounds conditions was not conducive to open rugby. There were puddles of water which made conditions muddy. To make matters worse the lines on the ground were not visible which made the referee's and touch judges tasks difficult.

The Thomian had a chance of opening their account early when a penalty was awarded to them, but winger Arjun Manoharan's kick was off target. These after play was confined to the forwards which resulted in a barren first half. There was hardly any move of role with the three-quarter getting very little of the ball.

The referee A. Rankothge ran into problems as both teams were wearing dark blue jersies and there was difficulty in identifying the players. Play was stopped for 10 minutes or more after the short break Kingswoodian being the home team were requested to change their jersies. The Thomian forwards exerted tremendous pressure in the second half resulting in a series of scores. On one occasion their forwards rushed so hard that they were over the goal line but a quick clearance by Kingswoods full back Rajitha Sansoni saw play being driven away.

In the 10th minute the Thomians launched another attack on Kingswood's defence and this time the Thomian No 8 Rajidra Gunasekera went on mid right. Winger Arjun Monoharan added the extra points

Ten minutes later came the last try of the match the Kingswoodian were pressing hard to score and were within the Thomian 22. But full back Jeremy Fernando intercepted a pass and made a daring run and covered 20 metres before sending a pass to centre Anuradha Wilwara who made a scorching 70 metre run to come around and touch down under the posts. Arjun Manohara added the extra ppoints.A. Rankothge refereed.