Dharmaraja College beat traditional rivals Kingswood College to secure the William Weerasinghe trophy in their schools plate second round rugby match at Nittawela yesterday.
The final tally was 53 ( 6 goals,. 1 try and 2 penalties) to 32 points (2 goals, 3 tries and 1 penalty).
The Rajans led 31-15 at the breather.
After an even first half the Rajans created a good impact in this crucial game. The Kingswoodians result in their favour in this game was of utmost important to to keep their hopes flickering for a promotion as they were relegated last year and were going all-out for a win.
The Rajans, looked a completely different out fit in this game, as they had transformed themselves in to one fighting unit. they were fast during the entire duration of the game, and looked far superior to their opponents in forward play, and were quick to pounce on the loose ball . Their tackling too were ruthless which brought the Kingswoodians to a halt.
The victory was a well-earned one with a fine team effort. The game began with even exchanges, but as the game progressed they settled down, with some heady ball handling and began exploiting the Kingswoodians mistakes and invaded the opponent’s territory. The scrums and line outs were equally shared, but in the loose rucks, the winners gained plenty of ground, on and off the losers spoilt their efforts. Kingswood could have done much better, as they played with better understanding but lack of team work team really let them down and failed to drive home the advantage, they had many chances to come back fighting. But Rajans never gave up and kept the pressure on .The Kingswoodian defense every now and then found the gaps. But poor handling the ball and numerous mistakes helped Dharmaraja to emerge victorious in the important match.
Referee- Pradeep Indika
The junior game too was won by Dharmartaja College
St.Sylvester’s beat Piliyandala CC
Sylvester’s beat Piliyandala Central by 21 points to 12 in a Bowl match played at Rajagiriya yesterday.,