- match report courtesy of
Written by Esala de Livera Tennekoon
Friday, 02 July 2010 21:53
The match between St.Josephs College and S.Thomas’ College for the Lady Jayathileke trophy was a keenly contested one with the undisputed ‘B’ division champs St.Josephs College giving the Thomians a good run for their money. Final scores were34-25 in favour of the Thomians.
The Thomians who came in as the favourites were put to the task by a spirited Joe’s line up. The Josephians who looked far fitter and superior in the set pieces made the Thomians work hard for their points. The Thomians pack which dominated right throughout the season was seen shoved back in almost 70% percent of the scrums. SJC number eight Malintha Soyza played had exceptional game and was virtually unstoppable at close range. He marshaled his forwards who played an outstanding game in the loose and gave the Thomians a sweltering time. For the Thomians it was the combination of the fleet footed trio of Jeremy Fernando, Anurudda Wilvara and Shaveen Kapuwatte who stood out in the line while Sudarshana Muthuthanthri was exemplary in the loose and with ball in hand. The Josephians who looked good during most of the game did not have the finishing touch to go over the Thomians. It was the Thomians who made maximum use of the loose ball and made the Josephians pay for their mistakes.
The Josephians will look to find a better place kicker as the full back missed all the conversions with some of them being fairly straight forward chances. It was also interesting to note that if the Josephians converted all of their tries they would have ended the game winners. The score line clearly underestimates the efforts of the Josephians who went down in their first loss of the season after having an unbeaten run in the league playing in the ‘B’ division.
The Thomians who were missing the services of their skipper Rajindra Gunasekara looked off color and looked out of sorts in most parts of the match. The Lady Jayathileke shield was won by the Thomians for the second successive year with the Josephians winning their last game in 2008. Both teams will have to work on their mistakes and regroup before the knockout trophy which is to start on the 8th of July.
