Giant killers Wesley beaten by Royal in a whisker

It was so near but yet so far for Wesley as Royal had a great escape to pull off a cliffhanger one point win in their Singer Under-20 inter-school rugby encounter played at Havelock Park Park on Friday.

A penalty by fly half ArshaJamaldeen three minutes away from full time gave the Royalists a close 33-32 win in a game which was dominated by Wesley.

Royal after making a solid start having taken an early 17-0 lead in the first 20- minutes of play faltered in the latter part of the first half as the Wesleyites came back with a vengeance to reduce the lead to 17-14 when referee GaminiIndrasena blew the short whistle.

Royal in the nail-biting victory accumulated their points through three goals, three penalties and a drop goal with Wesley making up their points from three goals a try and two penalties.

Royal drew first blood in the ninth minute through a try by prop forward LahiruPavithra with fly half Jamaldeen making no mistake with the conversion. Royal increased their lead two minutes later with a penalty booted over by Jamaldeen.

Royal further stretched their lead when Pavithra went over for his second try of the match with in-form Jamaldeen adding the extra points. It seemed that the Royalists were going to give the Wesleyites a run for their money with their fast open rugby.But it was not to be as the Wesleyites got their act together with skipper and centreTharinduPathirana’s try and full back RishanPeiris’s conversion decreasing the lead.

The Weleyites propped up with the try continued to torment the Royal defence and succeeded in a last minute try before the lemons break with RishanPeiris breaking away from a host of defenders and going over for a superb try under the post which he himself converted.

The resumption saw Wesley dominating the proceedings and giving the Royalists a torrid time. Two penalties booted over by RishanPeiris in the third and 11th minutes saw them taking over the lead 20-17.

Within a space of two minutes the game changed dramatically with Royal striking back immediately with a drop goal put over by Jamaladeen. It was virtually a battle between Peiris and Jamaldeen where the points of the two sides were concerned.

This was followed by a try by Wesley skipper Pathirana with Peiris adding the extra points which gave Wesley a comfortable 27-20 lead. Royal not to be outdone made some sporadic moves and succeeded in the 28th minute after a lapse of 15 minutes when prop forward Eroshan de Alwis barged through off a five metre scrum for a try and with Jamaldeen's conversion the scores were level at 27-27.

It was a ding dong battle from here on as Royal surged ahead three minutes later through a penalty booted over by Jamaldeen which was short-lived as Wesley took over the lead with Peiris going over for his second try of the match.

The conversion miss proved crucial for the Wesleyites as Jamaldeen sealed the game for the Royalists by booting over the vital penalty to give them the single point victory.