Lads from Bambalapitiya suffer their first defeat :

Trinity in 35-25 win over Peterites

By Ranjan Anandappa

Trinity ended the unblemished run of St. Peter's in their under 20 league tournament when they defeated a fancied home team by 35 points ( 3 tries,2 goals and 2 penalties ) to 25 ( Two goals ,one try and two penalties) at Bambalapitiya yesterday. The outcome of the match was clearly decided in the first half when both teams had scored a tally at 45 points in a fast moving affair.

Trinity got the better of the hectic energy draining first half and seemed to be more focused than the Peterites. The Kandy school won a lot of possession through their jumpers and kept the ball moving. On the other hand the Peterites were committed to too many errors. They dropped the ball at crucial moments of the game and were penalised on many occasions which the Trinitians got the maximum and even went on to score.

The Kandy school utilised their back division well for defensive purposes and the Peterites could not make much headway. Trinity hit back with a vengeance after their last week's defeat against S. Thomas' in a traditional match which is not considered in the school rugby 'A' division league as the Thomians play in the lower division. So the Trinitians are now unbeaten and could look forward for a successful season ahead.

Scrum half Naresh Perera opened scoring for the winners when he picked up a ball which went loose and touched down for an unconverted try. Then Trinity extended their lead when fly half Tharinda Ratwatte put over a penalty. Minutes later Peterite centre Dilanka Perera reduced the gap for his side scoring a try off a ruck and Jerome Canute added the extra points.

In the heavy scoring first half Ratwatte and Canute made no mistakes with their penalty kicks while Tharinda Ratwatte dummied himself to deceive several Peterites defenders for Sanka Atulugama to touch down. Narsh Perera failed with the converasion. Naresh Perera struck again for Trinity dashing for an unconverted try after a picking up a ball that went loose taking advantage of the Peterites dismal ball handling. With two more tries scored each by Peterite Senal Abeysekera and Trinitian Anurudha Karunathileka both converted by Canute and Naresh Perera the half time scores read 28/17 in favour of Trinity.

On resumption the Peterites needed a gigantic effort it they were too overcome the Kandy lads, but the terrific effort shown by both sides in the first half saw only a try each by Trinity through Tharinda Ratwatte and for the home team by Praveen de Silva and penalty put over by Peterites Jerome Canute was possible.

Nizam Jamaldeen refereed.