Isipathana College who are widely referred as the Kings of School rugby, delivered a statement performance in their league stage, showcasing the attacking brilliance and rock solid defense to secure a comprehensive 40 – 12 win over spirited and unbeaten Sri Sumanagala College outfit. Though the Green Machine dictated the pace throughout the game, leaving the hosts with a harsh time on the field, gritty Sri Sumanagala outfit delivered a superb resistance during the opening 20 minutes and some brilliant attacking flair during the late evening.
The hosts, Sri Sumangala, started the proceedings of the day with a deep kick-off under the gloomy sky at Pallekele. Though the first 18 minutes produced some electrified actions of rugby, both outfits failed to trouble the scorers. But Isipathana did most of the attacking, but the Summa brigade was equally spirited to produce a solid defence.
Suddenly, the flanker Kaveen spotted a gap in the defence and exploited it. Then the ball worked through the line, and Sanuja covered the final defender and gave a timely pass to the open-side winger, Dilum Sandheerage, who penetrated through the defence from the right corner. Though his opposite number gave chase, he gave a strong hand-off and ran all the way to draw the first blood of the game. The conversion attempt struck the left upright bar and unfortunately missed. (IC 05 – 00 WSSCK)
Then the floodgates were opened up, as Isipathana launched another fierce attack deep into the Sri Sumangala territory. There the loose-head prop forward Naveed Thahir made a brilliant breakthrough with his pure power. But that effort wasn’t enough to score, and finally, the tighthead prop forward, Nevith Mevnaka, delivered a brilliant leg drive after meeting with a tackle and crossed the whitewash along with his tackler and cut back inside to plant a try under the posts. Nimantha Sandeepa, the fly-half, capitalised on the easy opportunity presented to him. (IC 12 – 00 WSSCK)
After a few minutes, Sri Sumangala put up massive pressure on the Pathana brigade while they were in the defence inside the opposition’s 22-metre mark. After an untidy pass, Yuvindu Kodithuwakku had to pick the ball from their own in-goal area. But the spirited lad never opted for a clearance kick, but bravely he opted to attack from their own try line. After a couple of passes, Jaffraz made a magnificent backhanded pass to the winger Dilum Sanadheerage, who started a 100-metre sprint toward the other end of the game. He finally got away from a couple of defenders in the opposition half and crossed the whitewash for a glorious try. Nimantha again made a peach of a kick to extend the lead. (IC 19 – 00 WSSCK)
At the brink of the short-whistle break, Isipathana executed another brilliant passage of play. Metre by metre they hit deep into the Sri Sunagaha territory. At once the fullback, Jafraz, made a vital breakthrough from the far left corner and managed to cross the 22-metre mark. During the next phase, Yuvindu Kodithuwakku was tackled, but he released the ball and instantly got up and picked it again to drive forward. Then he displayed his leg-driving abilities to score the bonus point try against the astonished Sumanagala defence with his quick and unexpected move. Nimantha Sandeepa made another brilliant conversion to extend the lead. (IC 26 – 00 WSSCK)
After a few seconds of play, the short whistle went, and the Greenmachine proudly walked off for the lemons after breaking the early resistance displayed by the hosts.
Halftime: Isipathana College, Colombo 26 ( 4T, 3C) – 00 ( 0T, 0C) Wariyapola Sri Sumanagala College, Kandy
The visitors kicked off with a deep and high-hanging kick. After a few minutes of play Isipathana skipper Shahid Zumri triggered another scoring opportunity when he managed to turn over the ball at a ruck and made an excellent kick at the midway mark. Isipathana chasers managed to regain the ball and initiated a heavy attack on the defence. Then the ball was sent wide across the line, and fly-half Nimantha Sandeepa pushed his tackler and planted the first try in the second half. Nimantha completed his good job with an exceptional conversion kick. (IC 33 – 00 WSSCK)
Then Isipathana earned a five-metre lineout throw through an offside penalty. After a solid lineout the ball was sent in sideways as Sumangala defended well with their accurate tackles. But suddenly, Nevith Mewnaka took the ball and went through the defence. Though several tacklers held on to him, the gigantic forward displayed his pure power and barged over the whitewash to complete Isipathana’s sixth try. Nimantha continued his fine form with the boots by nailing another conversion. (IC 40 – 00 WSSCK)
With a 40-point lead, Isipathana made some substitutions by putting some fresh legs onto the field, and this move gave some breathing space to the hosts. After a long time Sri Sumangala invaded Isipathana’s red zone, and there, Isipathana received a scrum in their favour as the hosts made a knock-on. During the scrummage, Kaveen Jayasinghe was sin-binned for arguing with the match referee by showing a yellow card. Sumangala took a tap from the penalty and drove through the Greenmachines’ defence, and finally, the lads from Hill Capital managed to plant their first try of the game in the courtesy of their big No. 08, Tharusha Dilshan. (IC 40 – 05 WSSCK)
After some tough rugby actions, Sri Sumanagala received a penalty at the midway mark as Isipathana was penalised for lifting players in a scrum. Sri Sumangala, fullback, delivered an exceptionally tough finding kick by bringing the play right on to the opposition’s five-metre mark. Then, the hosts attacked with a powerful driving maul. But just before reaching the whitewash, Isipathana somehow managed to bring it down. Then Sumangalians attacked with a fine pick-and-drive phase which earned them the consolation try that they were looking for during the dying stage of the game. Sri Sumangala hooker Muditha Pieris scored the try, and their reliable placekicker, Pasindu Samarakoon, delivered a peach of a conversion from the far left corner to cut the deficit. (IC 40 – 12 WSSCK)
The final minutes produced some thrilling actions as both of the teams wanted to walk away with a try to keep up their momentum. Meanwhile, Waidyathilake of Sri Sumanagala was yellow-carded for an elbow punch spotted by the assistant referee Nipuna Amarathunaga. Though the game dragged for several minutes after the 70 minutes of play, neither side managed to score. Nevertheless the lads in Green Shirts went to the capital with a handsome away victory in their bag.
Fulltime: Isipathana College, Colombo 40 ( 6T, 5C) – 12 ( 2T, 1C) Wariyapola Sri Sumanagala College, Kandy
- Swisstek Perfect Player of the Match: Dilum Sandheerage (Isipathana College)
Points Breakdown
Isipathana College, Colombo – 40
Dilum Sandheerage 2T, Nevith Mewnaka 2T, Yuvindu Kodithuwakku 1T, Nimantha Sandeepa 1T, 5C,
Wariyapola Sri Sumanagala College, Kandy – 12
Tharusha Dilshan 1T, 1T, 2C
Match Referee – Gihan Yatawara
