Fourteen-man ‘Anthonians’ hang on to beat Joes 22-12  

St. Anthony’s College Katugastota- also known as ‘Eagles’- produced a shocker in the curtain-raiser to the schools under 19 Fifteen-a-side league rugby season when they beat St. Joseph’s College 22-12 at Bogambara Stadium yesterday (Wednesday). The match was a Division 1 Segment A Group 1 match and produced thunder and lightning from a rugby sense till the very end.

The Josephians dominated the first half only slightly and took a 12 points to 10 lead, but the Anthonians were always hot on their heels and threatened to score at every given opportunity. The Josephians breached the Anthonians defense twice in the first-half through prop J. Athukorala while Ruchith Rodrigo slotted in one conversion. The Anthonians responded with a try by Jude Realando while skipper Sahan Keerthisiri converted a penalty and booted through the conversion.

The second half belonged to St.Anthony’s who sent the Joes on the back foot with their forwards and fast running backs.

 The only setback the winners had was when they were reduced to 13 men at one time during the second half through one yellow and a solitary red card. But once the yellow carded player returned after 10 minutes in the sin bin they moved in fast for the kill and sealed the game. The Anthonians’ tries in the second half came through winger Dissanayake and Roshen Kumar. Skipper Keerthisiri did well to convert one of those tries and also slotted in a crucial penalty.

The game was officiated by Ishanka Abeykoon.