Wesley College and Ananda College stole the limelight during the fourth week of matches in the Inter-Schools Under-19 League Rugby Tournament, continued in Colombo and Kandy.
The Wesleyites delivered a stunning blow as they brought down the reigning League champions St. Peter’s College 23-5 with a brilliant all-round performance at Havelock Park.
Wesley went into half time with a close 8-0 lead and added two more tries to their tally in the second half and went on to record their first win over St. Peter’s since 2017.
In addition, this was also a historic moment for Skipper Sandul Gammanpila, who joined his father Asanka Gammanpila as the first father-son duo to lead Wesley to wins against St. Peter’s.
Meanwhile, Ananda continued their giant-killing act as they knocked-out favourites St. Anthony’s College 30-27 while recording their second successive victory in the tournament at the Nittawela Stadium.
The Anandians were trailing 13-20 at half time but they bounced back into recognition magnificently to level the scores shortly after the break and eventually sealed the contest with a match winning try during the latter stages.
The former champions Isipathana College kept their unbeaten record intact as they defeated a spirited Zahira College outfit 38-27 in their encounter played at Maradana.
The President’s Trophy Knock-Out champions made a tremendous start to the game by scoring four tries in the first half and successfully weathered a late rally from their opponents with a determined performance.
Sri Sumangala College, Wariyapola produced an excellent second-half performance to snatch a thrilling 33-20 victory over Thurstan College in their fixture played at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy.
Sri Sumangala were trailing 7-13 at half time but they took the lead shortly after the break and went on to add the finishing touches with five superb tries, giving them their second straight win in the tournament.
D. S. Senanayake College continued their impressive run as they pulled off a hard-fought 36-29 victory over Science College, Mount Lavinia in another fixture played at Havelock Park.
After trailing 12-15 at half time, D. S. Senanayake dished out some superb fast open rugby to completely rattle their opponents with four tries in the second half.
S. Thomas’ College powered their way to a commanding 48-5 victory over Dharmaraja College in their fixture played at the Nittawela Stadium in Kandy.
The Thomians produced a masterclass performance to build up a good 34-0 lead at half time and went on to seal a comprehensive win scoring as many as eight tries.
Meanwhile, Kingswood College secured their spot in the Plate segment of the tournament with a morale boosting 27-17 victory over Mahanama College at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy.
Royal College had little difficulties in overcoming Vidyartha College 29-7 on their home grounds while Trinity College outplayed St. Joseph’s College 29-7 in another fixture at Longden Place.
