Kingswood made to fight for win over Mahanama

Action from the match - Pix by Shane Senevirathne  

By Shamseer Jaleel in Kandy

Kingswood College secured a hard-fought 27 points (4 tries, 2 conversions, 1 penalty) to 17 points (2 tries, 2 conversions, 1 penalty) victory over Mahanama College in their Schools Under-19 School Rugby League clash at a sunbathing Bogambara Stadium last evening.
At the short breather, the Randles Hill outfit led 20-7.
Maduranga Pushpakumara, the burly No. 8, proved unstoppable, crashing over for a hat-trick of tries that showed his power for the Kingswood outfit. Menusha Marasinghe added a crucial fourth try, slicing through a fatigued Mahanama defence with a perfectly timed angled run. This allowed them to secure the much-needed bonus point plus back-to-back wins after beating Zahira in their last outing in Colombo. 
Full back Rivan Bawdeen, who converted a try, also put over a solitary penalty for the Kingswood outfit, while debutant Rustith Thamodya slotted a composed conversion under pressure.
Mahanama scored their tries through Deshan Avishka and Sithupa Fernando, who responded with two well-worked tries, both expertly converted by Sithum Rathnayake, and his penalty narrowed the deficit.
Referee: Jeewaka Fonseka
Kingswood, who qualified for the Plate segment, will play Dharmaraja on July 5 at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium. Meanwhile, Mahanama, who will play Zahira, will need a win to secure their Plate segment feature in Round 2.