Action from the match
S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia pulled off a dramatic one-point victory over Kingswood College Kandy, winning 29 (three goals, one try, one penalty) to 28 (four goals) in their Dialog Inter-School League Rugby Tournament match played at Mount Lavinia yesterday, after the scores were level at 14-all at half time.
The game began with a perfect start for Kingswood College. Number Eight Maduranga Pushpakumara stormed through the defence to score under the post in just the third minute. Their fullback added the extra points, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead.
S. Thomas’ had an early chance to hit back when they were awarded a 50-metre penalty in the eighth minute, but winger Mayanka Dias was off target, and Kingswood held onto their lead.
The Thomians finally broke through in the 14th minute when hooker Amaan Imran touched down near the posts. Dias made no mistake with the conversion to level the scores at 7-7.
Ten minutes later, Number Eight Mckyle Karunaratne charged through for a crucial try. Once again, Dias converted, putting the Thomians ahead at 14-7 in the 29th minute.
Kingswood, however, refused to give in. Flanker Chanidu Adhikari crossed the line near the posts in the 33rd minute. After a referee review and TMO check, the try was confirmed, and the conversion brought the scores to 14-all at the ‘breather’.
The Thomians came out firing after the restart, scoring a converted try within two minutes to lead 21-14. They extended their advantage to 26-14 in the 47th minute with an unconverted try after a well-organised maul.
In the 54th minute, Mayanka Dias added a valuable 30-metre penalty to give the home side a commanding 29-14 lead.
But the Kingswoodians, known for their fighting spirit, were not done yet. They scored a converted try to narrow the margin to 21-29 with minutes remaining.
The tension reached its peak in the 69th minute when Kingswood intercepted a pass and dived over near the left corner flag for another converted try. A yellow card was issued to a Thomian player for not releasing the ball in the build-up. Suddenly, the gap was reduced to a single point — 28-29.
The final minutes saw both teams battling fiercely, but S. Thomas’ held on to secure a thrilling one-point win in front of their home crowd.
Referee: Raveen Alexander
