Royal college vs. St.Peter’s college commenced their 2nd round matches playing also for the B C Anghie Cup which is played in memory of (late) B.C. Anghie who was a master at both schools.
The trophy is donated by his sons. The B.C. Anghie cup which is played for the fourth time turned out to be a muddy affair following some heavy rains at Royal complex. The home team retained the cup for the 3rd consecutive time with score line of 33-24.
St.Peter’s started proceedings with a penalty in the 3rd minute but Stephan couldn’t convert that into points. The first points of the game were scored by St Peter’s in the 9th minute of the game when Royal was attacking forward, St.Peter’s turned over the ball and a good passage of passing by the Pete’s line saw Thieekashan drawing three defenders into him and offloading to Diyath to score points. Fly half Stephan Sivaraj made no mistake with the conversion (RC 00-07 SPC)
Royal forwards were slowly getting to their rhythm and received a penalty near the half line in the 15mintue as Ashok Wijekumar kicked it to touch. Royal started the maul but had to go to their backs whose line lost position and Diyath picked up the loose ball just outside their 22 and sprinted towards the Peterite try line to score his second of the game. Stephan had very easy conversion under the post. (RC 00-14 SPC)
Just a few minutes after the 2nd try, Peterite forwards got their act together as prop Rahal Delpachthra scored the 3rd try running through the ruck. Stephan couldn’t add the extras. (RC 00-19 SPC)
The first 20 minutes of the game belonged to the Bambalapitiya lads and Royal seemed shell- shocked. But they started to use their deadly weapon, the rolling maul which the Petes defended valiantly but finally Royal got through the opposition defense as Ebrahim Barrie scored the first points for Royal in 24th minute of the game. Ovine Askey couldn’t add the extra points. (RC 05-19 SPC)
The game was going from end to end as there as were few turnovers here and there but Royal had the upper hand at that time. The visitors gave away a penalty near their red zone in the 34th minute of the game and Royal kicked to the corner and used the maul. The Peterites defended quiet well yet again but couldn’t hold it as they started conceding penalties for collapsing the maul and for the line being offside at certain times. Royal pushed forward and Ebrahim Barrie scored his 2nd try of the game to close down the gap to nine points. Ovine Askey’s accurate place kicking added the crucial two points. (RC 12-19 SPC)
St Peter’s were struggling with their attacking options in the last few minutes of the first half which Royal tried to get the advantage of it but couldn’t score again.
Half time: Royal College 12-19 St.Peter’s College
Royal started the 2nd half as the first half. In the 45 minute of the game the Peterite fly half Stephan kicked the ball out in the full from their 22 meter line but St.Peters’ carried the ball in to the their 22 meter area which gave Royal the line out inside the opposition’s 22. Royal used their same strategy and got more penalties for off sides and maul collapsing. Finally after lots of phases Royal’s scrum half Ashok Wijekumar used a dummy pass to his blind side and scored the 3rd try. Askey made no mistake (RC 19-19 SPC)
Fan Photos – Royal v St.Peter’s
Royal made some tactical changes in the middle by switching their no 8 with the scrum half. A high tackle by the Pete’s no 8 Senura near the half line awarded Royal another penalty as Ashok kicked it to touch perfectly and got his team a 5 meter line out. Ebrahim Barrie did his usual in the maul and scored his 3rd try to get the lead to the Royalist. Oven Askey didn’t disappoint his team mates as he converted the try from the right corner. (RC 26-19 SPC)
St Peters then reduced their deficit up to 2 points with Narendra Perera scoring the 4th try for them. Sivaraj missed the conversion. (RC 26-24 SPC)
In the dying stages of the game, two Peterites were sent to the bin for high tackles which meant they had to play the last minutes of the game with 13 men in the park. Royal used it to their advantage as they scored the final try of the game in the last move by Lenox Calyaranarathna under the post. Oven Askey converted it to finish the game. (RC 33-24 SPC)
It was remarkable comeback from Royal to win the match.
Score breakdown :
Royal College – (12) 33
Tries: Ebraham Barrie (3), Ashok Wijekumar, Lenox Calyaranarathna
Conversions: Ovin Askey (4)
St Peters college – (19) 24
Tries: Diyath Fernando (2), Rahal Delpachithra, Narendra Perera
Conversions: Stephan Sivaraj (2)
Match referee – Dinka Peiris
 B.C. Anghie who was a master at both schools.){kind=link}