Defending League Champs Royal College kick started their 2018 season with a bang to run through a formidable Kingswood side 29-3 at the Royal Complex on Saturday. And in the process secured a bonus point

The boys from Randell Hills started well exerting a lot of pressure with sporadic moves into the Royal half. Which resulted in Dhananjaya Gunathilake converting a penalty to points, drawing first blood for the Kings. 

The Kingswood pack managed to stop the trademark Royal maul on several occasions, trying to create momentum but the defending champs’ counter attack inside the opposition ’22 was unstoppable, as Sasitha Siyath touched down in the near corner for Royal in the 18th minute, scoring the season’s first try. Dulan Gunawardana slotted in through the posts with a beautiful conversion. 

The teams went into the tunnel with Royal leading 7-3

With the second half underway, Royal looked a whole different side. The boys in blue and gold amended their first-half mistakes and began to find their usual rhythm. As a result of their composed and controlled display, tries were scored in quick succession.

Janidu Dilshan made a powerful run over the white-wash in the 37th minute, after pouncing on a loose ball that came off a Kingswoodian defender. Extending their lead by another two points, Gunawardana was spot on with his kick.

The next 15 minutes of the game saw the Kings’ efforts of trying to breach the opposition defense going in vain; it only drained all their energy and allowed Royal to take the upper-hand as they failed to execute.

Capitalising on their opportunities, Risith Fernando, Nikhil De Silva and Pasindu Fernando went onto score in the 50th,66th and 70th minutes sealing the win for Royal. It was a lacklustre performance by the Kingswoodians in the final quarter of the game after an enthralling first half show.

Kingswood will need to toughen up both mentally and physically as the league will only keep getting harder. As for Royal, they look to be in good form and with a few skill improvements they could look at back-to-back title wins.