Sri Lanka men in Plate final following a comedy of errors

Sanity prevailed when a gentlemanly Benjamin Gollings clarified the final result of the Sri Lanka-Philippines men’s Plate semi-final encounter with the Philippine management which according to the tournament organisers had been won by Philippines 24-26. The Philippine management very professionally accepted that the version of Gollings was in fact correct. The corrected result of 28-26 in favour of Sri Lanka confirmed their place in the Plate Final.

A hat trick of converted tries by Ravindu Anjula in the first half almost sealed the game for Sri Lanka, only to see the Philippines creeping into the game late in the first half with an unconverted try. Sri Lanka led 21-05 at half time. All three tries were converted by scrum half Ishan Maduranga. A two try blitz by Philippines early in the second half brought them within a couple of points of Sri Lanka. Looking a little rattled and pegged back into their half, Sri Lanka took the opposition by surprise counter attacking and setting Nishon Perera free for an 80 metre run that resulted in an under the posts try. Nuwan Perera obliged with the conversion. Philippines scored a last ditch try and the successful conversion brought about a misconception of a Sri Lankan defeat.

Earlier on the individual brilliance of Sri Lankan skipper Dulani Pallikkondage carried the women’s team into the final of the Plate Segment of the Dialog Asian Sevens Series 2021 in Dubai last evening. The game looked all but lost with barely a couple of minutes remaining (Philippines leading 15-12) and the Philippines perched deep in Sri Lankan territory. Then came the act of rescue when Pallikkondage first ran across the 10 metre line at pace and straightened accelerating further by the left flank to cover nearly 90 metres to score under the posts. In effect she out- sprinted the entire Philippine side. The ensuing successful conversion gave Sri Lanka a 19-15 win.

It was Sri Lanka who scored first, Dulani Pallikkondage doing the scoring honours. A strong response followed with Philippines spreading the ball wide to draw level. Thereafter Sri Lanka scored from its own half. Anusha Attanayake hit a gap to touch down for a converted try. Two unconverted tries in succession by Philippines after the turnaround had them in the lead before Pallikkondage stole the show. Anusha Attanayake and Anushika Samaraweera obliged with the conversions. Yesterday’s Results:

Men’s: Plate semi-finals: Sri Lanka beat Philippines 28-26, UAE beat Malaysia 31-14, Cup semi-finals: Hong Kong beat China 24-0, South Korea beat Japan 21-14.

Women’s: Plate semi-finals: Thailand beat Malaysia 22-0, Sri Lanka beat Philippines 19-15, Cup semi-finals: Japan beat Hong Kong 29-0, China beat Kazakhstan 24-19.