Clive Inman is a name that rings many bells for cricket in Ceylon and for all Peterites who went through the hallowed hallways of the Bambalapitiya school – St. Peter's College. Inman was a prodigy who still holds the highest score of 204 n.o. in the big match that began in 1933, 82 years back. In 1955, Clive Inman captained a stad-studded team that included Maurice Salgado, Brian de Silva (WK), Ken Duckworth, Jayantha Fernando, R. Saravanabhavan, Russel Duckworth, Maurice de Silva, Roy Jayasinghe, Lakshman Serasinghe, and Peter Ludowyke. Batting first, the Josephians led by Mahinda de Silva scored 117 runs and the top order batsmen were mesmerized by the medium-pace swing bowling of Maurice Salgado who took 5 for 18 runs. In reply the Peterites did well to batter the Josephian bowling to amass a score of 224 runs. Opener Brian de Silva, 79, Lakshman Serasinghe, 35, Clive Inman, 25, were the top scorers. Josephian opening bowler Tony Buhar took 4 for 31 while Malcolm Berenger spun hiw way to grab 3 for 81. In the 2nd innings the Joes fared slightly better scoring 150 runs helped by Kirthi Caldera, 52, and skipper Mahinda de Silva, 37. Maurice Salgado was once again in form taking 4 for 29 while skipper Inman bowled cleverly taking 5 for 36. Needing 44 runs to win the Peterites knocked the deficit with the loss of 2 wickets to win the 22nd Joe-Pete match played at the Colombo Oval on the 25th & 26th March, 1955.

The team photo is invaluable. Probably one of the few in the archives with Clive Inman. Seated from L to R: Brian de Silva (WK), Not Known, Clive Inman, Rev. Fr Basil Wiratunga, Maurice Salgado, Not Known, Ken Duckworth – Standing from L to R: Roy Jayasinghe, Maurice de Silva, Russel Duckworth, Lakshman Serasinghe, Peter Ludowyke, R. Saravanabhavan, Brian Seneviratne and Jayantha Fernando.

Observer/Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer contest:

Lakshina Rodrigo, Randev Pathirana and Shanaka Sampath win Most Popular Awards.

Lakshina Rodrigo (St. Peter’s), Randev Pathirana (Royal College,Colombo) and Shanaka Sampath (SiriPiyaratana MV, Padukka) were voted as the Sunday Observer/MobitelMost Popular Schoolboy Cricketers of the year 2015 at the end o the final weeks’s counting.

Rodrigo who was voted as the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer in the platinum category hails from the cricket crazy city of Moratuwa and entered St.Peter’s in 2003 where he received his primary education. He was influenced to cricket from his smaller days by his father Priyalal Rodrigo , himself a top cricketer who played for St.Sebastian’s College Moratuwa and later went on to represent the Sri Lanka Under 19 team who took part in the Under 19 World Cup in Australia.

Lakshina Rodrigo learned his rudiments while at the Bandula de Silva Cricket Academy in Moratuwa. In 2006,Lakshina , was under the guidance of his school under 13 coach L.H.Sunil and was selected as an all-rounder. Spotting his talent as a wicket keeper who later preferred to keep wickets and since then he has been quite impressive behind the stumps.

He captained the Under 13, under 15sides which won the All Island Schools division one championship. He represented the schools district and provincial teams and at the final he was judged the Man Of the Match. While playing for the St.Peter’s first XI he scored over 750 runs and had over thirty victims as a stunper. He is a Sri Lanka Schools trialist and a member of the Development squad.

Royalist Randev Pathirana who was the runner-up in the Platinum segment last year was voted as the MostPopular schoolboy Cricketer in the ‘Gold’ category for schools playing in division two. Royal College, Colombo did not take part in the SLSCA tournament last year due to some reason . Therefore Royal had to play in division two this year. Hopefully they should take part in the division 1 in the coming 2015/ 16 school cricket tournament.Pathirana has proved his all-round capabilities beyond doubt during the last season. He has been scoring a lot of runs and taking wickets and has been an intragal part of his team. Shanaka Sampath of Siri Piyaratana MV, Padukka was voted as the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer in the division three ‘silver’ segment. He is promising all-rounder , hoping to play big time cricket. His selection is no doubt a big boost for the cricketers from the the out skirts of Colombo.

-RA – Courtesy: SUNDAY OBSERVER 19 JULY 2015

St. Peter’s College Rugby: Was The ‘Rock’ Sin Binned?

July 5, 2015 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,MORE OPINION,Opinion | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

By Marlon Dale Ferreira –

Marlon Dale Ferreira

The saintly school from Bambalapitiya St. Peter’s College will always remain firstly as a top notch educational institute that uses sport as part of its extra curriculum to instill the building of character, embedding of deeply rooted values and discipline to its students. Historically the school has taken pride in the stellar job it always does, where the churning of young boys into fine astute men and releasing them to the world has been one of the school’s top most priorities.

However the recently concluded schools rugby season left gaping holes that continued to get even bigger as the season drew to a close. These gaping holes were the ones that the school authorities failed to plug in time, that eventually led to a plethora of unwanted twaddle, that finally appeared to have been fueled from within its system itself as the season ended. These issues seemed to be in retaliation for throwing out its former Coach Colin Denish and replacing him with Australian born Scottish Test Match rugby player/cum Coach Ben Mac Dougall.

The negative publicity that the school got through the latter part of the season should be sufficient for the authorities to take heed and learn a lesson or two themselves, as opposed to being entrusted the job of educating their very own kids through the means of sport.

This now completed season equally left many ardent fans and supporters of the school alike, with quizzical faces especially during certain games, where losing matches from seemingly winning positions, influenced flirting thoughts of matches being fixed.

*Photo courtesy The Nation

Similar words such as unexplainable, unfathomable, baffling, puzzling, perplexing, mystifying, strange and weird would have at some point in time crossed the minds of both its players and supporters alike too.

However the bewilderment that surrounded these thoughts could also be justified, as here were the seven – a – side champions, with their set of fleet footed runners losing matches at will and especially under rather mystifying circumstances.

If that was not the case, then seeking answers to questions such as its reliable Fly Half Sandesh Jayawickrama kicking zero kicks from eight attempts at goal, in their game against Royal College, to its captain Kevin Dixon not taking a crucial kickable match winning penalty against Isipathana, with a few minutes left on the clock and the sensational back to back season ending losses to both St.Thomas’ and Science Colleges’, would be tough to answer.

Was the under performance of the players harnessed by external forces along with the residue of support staff left behind by Denish that caused this mayhem? Or perhaps was it the bickering of the newly appointed Rugby Foundation board of members who assumed office mid way during the season causing more harm than good? Or was it the mentality of wining at all costs that back fired on them?

These are perhaps questions that the school’s authorities will have to dig deep to find answers for.

Some senior players were left shell shocked too, wondering as to why their very own team mates were committing basic error after error during the latter part of the season’s game, losing prized possession of the ball but moreover the games itself.

The question of matches lost on purpose by a set of players and influenced by external forces in their attempt to bring back their ousted Coach Colin Denish, will always be left unanswered.

But then again the benefit of the doubt needs to be given to the players as well, even though the ingredients are all available to cook up the most controversial of stews.

A disgruntled old boy summed it up best this way. “Our Fr. Rector Martin should have sacked the entire lot along with the ousting of Coach Denish and brought in a new set of support staff too. By keeping those who had and continue to have close ties with Denish, it was only a matter of time before they ended up ganging up together in retaliation of their buddy’s departure. There is a mafia that controls things from the side lines and our authorities have sadly failed in controlling those elements”.

A look at the concluded league season at a glance.

Game 1: Lost to St.Joseph’s College 10/17. Two tries scored. Captain Kevin Dixon carried off the field after a brilliant first half played by the Petes. Rugby dished out was like poetry in motion especially in the initial half.

Game 2: Beat Kingswood 13/12 in after Fly Half Sandesh Jayawickrama sailed a match winning kick to secure the side’s first league win.

Game 3: Beat Wesley College 45/22 with ease by scoring 8 tries.

Game 4: Lost to Isipathana 18/20. A crucial penalty from kicking distance with a few minutes left for the game to end was mysteriously not taken by skipper Kevin Dixon. The ball was kicked to touch instead. Some say that taking the kick and even missing it would have been the ideal decision, as the subsequent 22 yard drop out gives the ball back to the Petes.

Game 5: The seven a side champions record the season’s biggest win over C.W.W.Kannangara 107/5 running in a total of 17 tries.

Game 6: Beat Trinity 30/25 at Bambalapitiya by running down 6 tries.

Game 7: Lost to Royal 25/36. Perhaps this is where it all started to go pear shaped. Fly half and reliable place kicker Sandesh Jayawickrama kicks all five conversions, including 3 penalty kicks astray.

On the 11th of June 2015 the St.Peter’s Rugby Foundation appoints a new committee with Trinesh Fernando as its President.

Game 8: Lost to St. Thomas’ College 17/25. Even the Thomians were left shell shocked and amazed by this win.

Game 9: Lost to Science College 3/34. Science College is the side that is currently coached by Colin Denish the former Coach of St.Peter’s College. The Peterites played this game in a manner that was totally out of character compared to the way they competed during the rest of the season. They practically refused to score a single try in this game despite crossing the line of every opponent they played up until then. The only Peterite old boy who seemed happy with their loss was the Science College Coach Denish. He was witnessed gleaming from ear to ear and carried on the shoulders by his team’s supporters who were also observed jeering the Peterite authorities in front of the VIP area.

The following day Coach Ben Mac Dougall called over to meet Fr. Rector Trevor Martin and subsequently, it was amicably decided that they part ways for the greater good of the school.

Colombo Telegraph did speak to Fr. Rector Martin who said “we did make a massive investment and we did not achieve the desired results. I had many old boys and parents breathing down my back and I had to make a call. No, no. I was not influenced by anyone to get rid of the Coach, but during our discussion it was decided by both parties that for the best interest of the school, that Coach Mac Dougall and us part ways. This was sadly reported erroneously by the media”.

When Colombo Telegraph contacted Ben Mac Dougall to get his version of the story, he sent in this email “I need to be 100% truthful so with my statement I want to clarify “Pressure from outside sources”. I felt that some boys did not handle the pressure and expectations from some old boys, parents and other external influences like personal friendships and divided loyalties to the former coach. There was even talk Colin had contacted some boys in the week leading up to the Science match. But let’s give the boys the benefit of the doubt and were not influenced.

I do not wish to implicate the boys in any way.

I did my best to protect and shield the players from these outside influences but ultimately they are children and some are not equipped with the mental skills to effectively deal with such issues. Even I have never experienced such situations like these and found it very challenging to try and counteract all the different forces at play.

Further to external I had internal pressure from within, there was a clear divide in the loyalty of those who were part of my back room team (Manager, Doctor, MIC) and some other influential old boys were all big supporters of the former coach Colin Dinesh and were reluctant for change.

Prior to the science match an issue with the College Doctor arose when he incorrectly diagnosed our captain Kevin Dixon with a hamstring tear contrary to other medical opinions (Physiotherapist/Trainer). An ultrasound scan was undertaken on my request and he was cleared of any such injury but by then Kevin was mentally down and as a result lost confidence and his form suffered badly.

In the end I felt these factors undermined the team’s performance and my ability to coach St Peters. So on Sunday the day after the Science College match I had a meeting with Father Rector at 3pm and officially I stepped down as Director of Rugby.

The Following messages and questions where conveyed to Father Rector at the meeting:

“As a coach I can accept mistakes and errors in judgment from players on the rugby field but a lack of effort and commitment I cannot forgive”.

“The Science match on the 20/6/2015 was vastly inconsistent with how the boys performed in the other matches during the season”.

“The Question of why did we perform to such a poor level in the Science College match will remain one of the great mysteries of my season coaching St. Peters”.

“I am baffled why we could not score single try against science yet we scored 5&6 tries against Royal and Trinity Colleges respectively in the matches leading into this game”.

If the exit of Coach Mac Dougall seemed controversial, then the entry of its new Coach Rajeev Perera and Trainer Mothilal Jayathilake did eventually write their own script of controversy too. Jayathilake who carries a blotched past as a Trainer, soon had players feeling sick in the gut, after a supplement was introduced to them during the week leading up to their quarter final game. It was also confirmed that this supplement was administered without the consent of the players’ parents.

However the school authorities in a last ditch effort at winning at all costs, did have their subsequent plans short lived. St.Peter’s did eventually lose to Science College yet again within the span of a week, but not before it was witnessed that the players’ and the support staff’s attitudes seemed different now, minus their foreign Coach. They died a more merciful and dignified death this time around losing by 22 points to 27.

Captain Kevin Dixon was observed running onto the field displaying a new found sense of enthusiasm that also showcased the gleaming smiles of the support staff seated on the bench. Players running behind Dixon were all given ‘high fives’ to boost their confidence by their skipper. They were so pumped up this time, that the very same jaded side of a week ago, not only crossed their opponent’s line once but on four occasions.

Firstly the boys were given a supplement to pump them up during the lead up to this game, something that the now resigned Coach Mac Dougall refrained from using during the season when he was their Coach.

However when Colombo Telegraph contacted the schools appointed Doctor Clive James to clarify this, he confirmed that the school authorities had specially brought in Mothilal Jayathilake an additional Trainer for the knock outs, who sought his permission to administer ‘NO Explode’ a nitric oxide performance enhancing supplement.

“In 2010, I banned this supplement from being administered to the school boys of St. Peter’s College, as then the content ‘caffeine’ found in the supplement fell under the ‘monitored’ category of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This meant that it was neither cleared nor banned and I did not want to take any chances. However in this instance, I informed him that the said supplement was now cleared and it could be administered in small doses” said Dr.James.

When Dr. James was asked if this supplement has any other side effects and also if the parents’ permission was sought to administer this supplement to the players, he said “Yes, if taken on the long term it can certainly affect the kidneys and no, I am unaware if the trainer Mothilal Jayathilake had sought parental permission to administer it”.

Dr. James also confirmed that he was not present when the supplement was administered and also did not deny the fact that something else could have been introduced during his absence.

Fitness and Nutrition specialists have confirmed that no symptoms of vomiting are known when the supplement ‘NO Explode’ is usually taken unless something else is introduced.

However when Colombo Telegraph contacted a parent of one of the senior team’s players, it was highlighted that leading up to the knock outs, the boys were given only a whey protein which was clearly explained to the parents by a sports medicine doctor from the Kalubowila South Government Hospital. This was when a seminar was conducted on health, fitness and nutrition for the parents of players earlier.

“I found my boy vomiting in the toilet and when I inquired he said that prior to practices the trainer Mothilal Jayathilke had given them something to drink in order to boost their fitness levels. It was also strange to see my otherwise fit son sleeping for longer periods of time during the pre-knockout week” said the parent who did not wish to be named.

“Half a scoop each before practice, that’s what I instructed Jayathilake to give them” said Dr. James. “As long as it is taken in small dosages its fine. But if you abuse its intake on the long term you are bound to suffer renal / kidney problems” concluded the doctor.

Colombo Telegraph made many calls in its quest to find out what exactly led to this controversial season.
The controversies surrounding this season even had a sport website firstly uploaded comments of old boys under their covered match story and then strangely had them removed. On further examination it was revealed that the website belongs to the company that the current Rugby Foundation President Trinesh Fernando works for.

People spoken to:

Fr. Rec. Trevor Martin (Principal) – St. Peter’s College
Ben Mac Dougall (Rugby Coach -7’s and League)
Sunil Aponso (Rugby Manager) – Admitted that he had spoken to a reporter of a newspaper even though he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Trinesh Fernando (Present President Rugby Foundation) – Declined to comment but provided necessary telephone numbers of the relevant school authorities.
Nigel Forbes (Former President Rugby Foundation) – Declined to comment.
Troy Bartlett (Sports Secretary-SPC) – Declined to comment but advised to speak to Fr. Rector Trevor Martin.
Dr. Clive James (School appointed Doctor) – Admitted he advised Trainer Mothilal Jayathilake that the supplement ‘NO Explode’ is permitted by WADA .

* A host of other old boys and parents of players were spoken too, but they wished to remain anonymous.

It is now clear that somewhere along the season the words of the founding fathers’ of St. Peter’s, the motto of the school “Virtus Et Veritas” (Virtue and Truth) and its rugby motto “Our Game Our Passion Our Life” was knocked on and lost.

It is best hoped that the school’s authorities find these lost values soon, but most of all their lost dignity of this season and weed out the unwanted shrub in gearing themselves in time for the next season.

It is also wished that they would go back to the days where the sport of rugby was played both hard and clean and run by a set of authorities laden with integrity and honour.

Perhaps they could also seek the advice that their late Coach and famous son, Archibald Perera, who used to always say “play clean and hard rugby, by getting both arms around your man, push with the shoulder and pull with both arms and bring your man down clean. From the base of the scrum, give the ball out to the fourth man, one step and out and let him score.”

His explanation to the abbreviated word “Rugger” and how it should be played went like this – “Ruggered, Ugly, Double Guts, Entertainment & Recreation” – and how true the revered ‘Archie’ was !

 

 

– See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=sports/peterites-all-island-under-17-tennis-champions#sthash.PF3NIMMq.dpuf

By M. Shamil Amit – Courtesy The Sunday Times June 14, 2015.

The second half rally put in by S. Thomas’ saw them record a shocking 25 points to 17 win over fancied St. Peter’s in a second round encounter of the Singer U-20 Schools Rugby league tournament played at Bambalapitiya yesterday.The Thomians after conceding a 8-10 lead to host Peterites made up their points through a goal, three tries and a penalty as against to a goal and two tries scored by the Petes.

The Peterites who came into the game as favourites drew first blood with an unconverted try scored by center Harshana Peiris while few minutes later the Thomians reduced the deficit from a penalty booted over by Dion Dias. The Thomians went into the lead in the 17th minute through an unconverted try scored No.8 Sachintha Jayatilleke. From there on the game saw the two teams exchanging honours before the host side succeeded to grab the lead in the 35th minute from an unconverted try scored by deputy skipper Nishon Perera with which the score remained at the lemons.

On resumption the Peterites went into the attack and was rewarded immediate success when Nishon Perera went over for his second try of the match which was converted for them to 17-8 but that was short-lived as skipper and second row Hasitha Senanayake’s unconverted try helped the Thomians to reduce the deficit.

The Thomians playing with more cohesion put the Peterites under tremendous pressure and two tries within a space of eight minutes put the issue beyond doubt for the Mt. Lavinia boys. The first was in the 29th minute with No.8 Sachintha Jayatilleke going over for his second try which was converted and the other in the 37th minute through an unconverted try scored by Naveen Henakankanamage which saw them record their first win in the second round and also regain the Archibald Perera Trophy.

Referee – Anura Rankothge

Royal douse the Josephian charge.
 

Schools League title hunters Royal College narrowly escaped from the jaws of defeat before recording a stunning 25-22 victory against dark horses St. Joseph’s College in a Singer Under-20 Schools League Cup segment rugby match played at the Royal Complex in Colombo yesterday. After leading narrowly by a point, 18-17 at halftime, Royal went on to score from three tries, two conversions and two penalties while the spirited Josephians made up their points from three tries, two conversions and a penalty.

 

 

 

St. Joseph’s defenders try to bring down the progressing Royal skipper Bhanuka Gamage – Pic by Anuradha Bandara

The Reid Avenue lads drew first blood with a penalty in the early minutes of the game through fullback Ovin Askey before referee Priyantha Guneratne awarded a penalty to the Josephians. Fullback Shamilka Kurumbulapitiya’s kick helped the visitors equalize the score when the game was barely five minutes old. And they did not stop, three minutes later their nippy scrumhalf Vimukthi Rahul went over the tryline to give his team a roaring start and thus the lead. Kurumbalapitiya converted to add two more points under his belt as the Josephians took the lead at 10-3.

The Royal team failed to put on their expected show and struggled at their home ground while the Josephians dominated the field with their superior defence and crafty centres. The Josephians’ second try originated from a line play where the centre Romesh Priyanka scored on the right flank. Kurumbulapitiya’s boots added the extra points. At this point St. Joseph’s were turning out to be a real threat to the Royalists’ unbeaten golden streak.

The Josephian prop Stephan Gregory was yellow-carded and escorted to the sin-bin and the Royalists capitalised on this opportunity to score through their infamous maul and their superstar hooker Supun Warnakulasuriya as Askey added the two points. Askey further put over a penalty at the last minutes of the first half giving the scoreboard a makeover and putting Royal on the front foot as they took lemons with a one-point lead at 18 -17.

The Josephians came back unfazed by their one point deficit and put good pressure on the Royalists which resulted in a lot of fumbles and sloppy play. The Josephian line of defence did an impressive job and kept the home team at bay but the Royalists finally broke through a scrum and their scrumhalf Ashok Kumar planted a try. Askey converted the try giving Royal the much needed points on board. The Josephians replied with an unconverted try through their winger Vinul Fernando soon after and went on to valiantly fight back. But they lingered in the opposition’s 22 metre line most of the time and failed to convert those efforts into points. Royal let out a sigh of relief as the whistle blew for full time with the final scoreline reading narrow 25-22 in their favour and keeping their hopes on the most decisive game against defending champions and unbeaten Isipathana College next Saturday in their own backyard once again.

Courtesy: Sunday Times

Singer Schools Under 20 League Tournament.

Indika Walagedara reporting in the Sunday Observer.

A magnificent second half rally by the Peterites enabled them to a sensational win against the back peddling Trinity side by 30 points (2 Goals, 2 Tries, 2 Penalties) to 25 points (2Goals, 1Try, 2 Penalties) in their Inter School Division 1 Under 20 Rugby match played at St.Peters College Grounds Bambalapitiya yesterday.

At halftime Trinity were leading 20 points to 10 The match got off to a exhilarating start with both teams looking to open scoring and Trinity succeeded to do so when in the 2nd minute of play, their prop forward, Direndra Ratwatte went over for a try off a rolling maul. Fullback Sanishka Abeywickrema made the conversion for Trinity to take the lead 7 Nil.

In the 9th minute of play Trinity were awarded a penalty for an infringement by a Peter's player and Trinity flyhalf, Thisila Perera put over a 45meter penalty to increase the lead for the Kandy school by 10 points to nil.

Within a couple of minutes Trinity were awarded another penalty when Thisila Perera put over a 30- meter kick to increase the lead for Trinity 13 points to nil.

In the 30th minute of play, Trinity received a line out and the ball went loose from a Peterite forward where Trinity scrum half, Anouk Boyagoda booted the ball and scored a good try after covering nearly 30 meters. Sanushka Abeywickrema made the conversion to read the score as Trinity 20 points to St.Peters Nil.

By this time most of the spectators and even a few Peterite supporters were seen leaving the grounds anticipating a Trinity win. . But St.Peters had other strategies and brought in their captain, Kevin Dixon and from that point the match took a dramatic turn with the Peterites hitting back with a vengeance.

St.Peters scored in the 35th minute, when their captain and fullback, Kevin " kutty" Dixon scored a brilliant try by carving through the five Trinity defenders to score. The conversion was missed by flyhalf, Sandesh Jayawickrema . The score read -Trinity 20 to Peters 5.

Immediately in the 39th minute of play, Peterite second row ,Rahal Delpachithra scored a try for the Peterites off a fantastic rolling maul. Sandesh Jayawickrema missed the conversion. The score read- Trinity 20 points to St.Peters 10.

At half time This score read Trinity College 20 points to St.Peters 10..

St.Peters college came in to the second half with different attitude and immediately they received a penalty and their fly half Sandesh Jayawickrema put over a penalty to take the score to Trinity 20 to peters 13.

By this time Peters were playing with only 13 players due to referee sending their fly half sandesh Jayawickrema and their vice captain cum centre Nishon Perera to sin bin for a fight.

Trinity having a two man advantage scored a push over try in the 15th minute of play. And the conversion was missed by full back Shanishka Abeywickrama and the score Trinity 25 to Peters 13.

Playing with only 13 players, the gallant Peterites scored a sensational try when they worked their line beautifully for winger, Diyath Ferrnando to touch down by running through the entire Trinity defence covering almost 60 meters. Flyhalf Sandesh converted it to close the gap to 25 points to 20 in favour of Trinity College.

Within five minutes, St Peters sealed the game with a try and a penalty, where the try was scored by Avishka Heenpalla and the conversion along with the penalty was put over by flyhalf Sandesh Abeywickrema . The final score remained- St.Peters 30 points to Trinity's 25.

Referee Irshad Kader

Following is the Sunday Times report on the match.

Peterites turn tables to down Trinity
View(s): 177

St. Peter’s from a hopeless position of 10-20 at the breather turned tables to recorda 30 points to 25 win over Trinity in a second round match of the Singer U20 Rugby league encounter played at Bambalapitiya yesterday.

The Peterites spearheaded by skipper Kevin Dixon who played the position of center chalked up 20 points to five scored by Trinity in the second half which paved the way for their victory.

The Peterites accumulated their points through two goals, two tries and two penalties to the two goals a try and two penalties scored by Trinity. Last year Trinity was the winner by 29-22.

Even though the Trinitians dominated the first session of play they were nowhere near that form in the second session as the Peterites gave them an unexpected beating and had them running circles.

Trinity after their first defeat of the first Bradby Shield encounter has fallen back and seemed yet to be under shock. However they had this game in their hand but failed to keep up the momentum and succumbed to an unexpected defeat.

The three tries for Trinity was scored by D. Ratwatte, Rajith Samarasekera, Anuka Boyagoda with Thusila Perera making one conversion while Sanushka Abeywickrama made the other conversion and also booted over the penalties.

For St. Peter’s skipper and center Kevin Dixon went over for two tries while second center Diyath Fernando and scrum half Avishka Heenpalle scored a try each with Sandesh Jayawickrama making the conversions and the penalties. Referee – Irshad Cader – MSA

Peterites will be meeting the wounded Trinity Lions this Saturday at St. Peter's College grounds at Bambalapitiya.

Trinity won the last year's encounter at Pallakale which was also the first ever Major General Dennis Perera Memorial Trophy with a last minute try. Peterties led by Dhanushka Ranjan team won the game for Petes last, in the year 2012 at the same venue.

Come join the Peterite Bamba Brigade to support the Kevin Kutty and his boys for victory. Now that the Bradby returned to Reid Avenue its our goal to bring the Major Gen.Dennis Perera Memorial trophy back to Bamba.
Dont forget that the Peterite Bamba Brigade after party continues at the Peterite Lounge the same evening with a live band and special discounts on food and drinks.

LET'S GO PETERS !!
 
 

Inter-school Rugby.

April 24, 2015, 8:41 pm – Courtesy: Roshen Steelman in The Island.

Isipatana College, Colombo continued their unbeaten run as they beat St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya 20 (4 unconverted tries) points to 18 (1 goal, 1 unconverted tries and 2 penalties) in an Under-20 Singer inter-school Rugby encounter played at Bamabalapitiya yesterday.

St. Peter’s playing under lot of pressure, after having lost two games did not have enough fire power to overcame Patana defense line. Skipper Kevin Dixon was an exception.

Patana are faring badly with the boot in this year’s league and the trend continued yesterday.

Patana drew first blood when skipper Omalka Gunaratne, by far the best schools rugby player this season sneaked through few defenders to touch down near the right side of the post. Isuru Udayakumara failed to add the extra points as the score red five points to nil three minutes into the game.

Then Petes made some attacking moves to obtain a 25 meter penalty which was successfully booted by Sandesh Jayawickrama.

Patana’s winger Dilan Gallge got his act together, fended off more than two Peterities to touch down near the left flag corner. Isuru failed to add the extra points again.

Sandesh Jayawickrama did no mistake with his second penalty in the 28th minute with score line reading ten points to six.

Patana skipper Gunaratne who is the highest try scorer of the league scored his ninth try in the 36th minute off the driving maul as the half time score red 15 points to six.

In the second half, St. Peter’s broke the try deadlock when they scored the first try of the evening. Harshana Peiris crossed the try line left side of the post. Jayawickrama failed to add the extra points.

Then Rehan Silva came good for green shirts when he sneaked through few defenders to cross the try line. He took the score to 20 points to 11 in their favour.

The last try of the day came when centre player Nishan Perera ran collected a smart kick by Kevin Dixson to finish just right side of the post. Jayawickrama added the extra points as the game ended 20 points to 18.