Thomians strike it rich ahead of final

By M. Shamil Amit

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S. Thomas’ College took a step closer in their quest to clinching the Milo Schools knock-out rugby title when they advanced to the final with a convincing 36-26 win over St Anthony’s College in the semi-final played at the Royal Sports Complex ground in Reid Avenue yesterday.

The Thomians having led 17-8 at the breather accumulated their points through three goals and three tries as against one goal, two tries and three penalties by the Eagles.

The encounter aroused mush interest due to the fact that the Eagles put in some scintillating performances in the recent past and was expected to give the Thomians some stiff resistance.

To some extent they were successful in the first half but the power of the Thomians in the second half was too much for them to handle. The time it took for the Thomians to make their first scoring indicates the resistance the Eagles put up.

It was in the 11th minute that second row Janik Jayasuriya who helped the Thomians put up the first score which he did off a five yard scrum like as he has done in previous games by creeping through using the advantage of his weight. But Arjun Manoharan the reliable kicker surprising failed to goal it.

Two minutes later the Eagles decreased the lead through a penalty booted over by fly half Chamara Kumara. But he failed with another penalty offered six minutes later which denied them the lead.

Undeterred the Eagles kept up the momentum and began putting the Thomians under pressure and succeeded in taking over the lead with a 23rd minute try through full back Tharindu Chanaka with Kumara failing to goal.

Thomian skipper and fly-half Shaveen Kapuwatte made the next move as he succeeded in chasing a kick to touch by one of his team mates to grab the ball and go over for a try down the right corner flag.

Two minutes before the first half the Thomian No 8 Rajindra Gunasekera had some Anthonian defenders clinging on to him without success as he dragged them along to score under the post giving Manoharan an easy kick at goal. With the Thomians leading 17-8 referee Nizam Jamaldeen blew the short whistle.

It was the Eagles who did the first scoring through a penalty booted over by Kumara in the fourth minute of the second half. Four minutes later centre Anuruddha Wilwara put the Thomians further ahead with a try which was converted by Manoharan .

The Eagles though followed it up by scoring from a try by No 8 Arshan Uvais which was converted by Kumara who also booted over a penalty. The Thomians replied with two tries by prop forward Roshanka Kodituwakku and Rajindra Gunasekera which was his second for the match.

The asking was too much for the Eagles but they had to only be satisfied with a try in the dying stages by fly half Tharindu Chanaka.