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53rd
Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield Encounter
PETES
OUTCLASS JOES FOR THE 9th CONSECUTIVE YEAR
By M. Naushad Amit
No. 8 Bulldozer Ishan Noor of St. Peter’s
played a match-winning role with two first half tries
to help his side come on top with a 24 (2 goals and
2 tries) to 7 (1 goal) victory against arch rivals St.
Joseph’s to retain the Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga
Shield for the 9th consecutive year at Bambalapitiya
yesterday. The winners led 12-nil at the breather.
The 53rd annual encounter kicked off amid a large number
of spectators as the home side took early advantage
in the game when their playmaker Noor broke off a maul
to place a try under the post 10 minutes from the start.
Harsha Weerakkody converted for Petes to lead by 7-nil.
The Peterites had total dominance in the game came for
the next 9 minutes and Noor added another run-over try
in the far right corner after failing to advance for
another under-the-post.
The
try went unconverted. As the game progressed St. Peter’s
missed another chance of scoring when their full back
Amila Fernando dropped the ball just outside the scoring
line after a great ball work out. Weerakkody’s
attempts at kicking the ball outside the field for line-outs
were not up to the target. Stray kicks The Peterites
was given a sound alarm by St. Joseph’s in the
second half as the visitors played more aggressive rugby
looking for a scoring opportunity. In the 9th minute
a ball handling mistake by the Peterites made an opening
for the Joes as their centre Priyan Perera collected
the ball from a St. Peter’s mistimed pass to plant
a try under the post. It was converted by centre Ashan
Karunaratne to cut down the gap to 7-12. For 20 minutes
St. Joseph’s dominated play. But a gallant effort
by No.8 Noor who put down four opponents on his way
to the score line from his own 22 was the turning point.
Noor was held back by a number of Josephian defenders
but play shifted from a maul from the far right corner
to the far left corner which kept the Peterite scrum-half
Banuka Nanayakkara busy as he had to punt through a
couple of opponents to score a diving try. The try went
unconverted once again as Weerakkody had a terrible
time in kicking the ball on target as on earlier occasions.
Two
minutes later the ball came out from a scrum to the
hands of St. Peter’s winger Gerard Canute who punted
through the entire Josephian back division to pass the
ball to full back Fernando who ran all the way to plant
an under-the-post try. Weerakkody came back to his usual
form to convert the try into a goal to take a healthy
24-7 lead before referee Dilroy Fernando blew the final
whistle.
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