Isipathana MV coming in to the game as underdogs beat the much fancied Royal College by 27 Points (2 Goals, 2 Tries, 1 Penalty) to 5 Points (1 Try) win in their Under 20 Division I Singer League encounter which concluded at Havelock Park yesterday.
At the short breather it was Pathana who lead 12-0. The game was played for the Maj Milroy Fernando Memorial Trophy. With this win Isipathana increased their tally to 10 in the series against Royal’s 7 with 3 games ending in ties.
Isipatana scrum half Mohommed Rizwan makes way to plant the third try. ( Pic by Ranjith Perera) |
Isipathana three quarters played an excellent game. They were omnipresent. The forwards led by their burly Number 8 Tharindu Siriwardena who had an outstanding game were quick to pounce on the loose ball.
Mohamed Rizwan who operated from the scrum for Isipathana linked the forwards and three quarters very well. He was dead accurate with his options to work the line or chip and chase. Their three quarters never allowed the huge Royal forwards to go through their gates.
On the other hand Royal looked like mere passengers. They will need to go back to the drawing board very soon with only two weeks more for their important Bradby Shield encounter against Trinity. Their line was dead slow and were standing and passing in attack and wanting in defence.
Most of the time the Royal’s three quarters also ran out of options. They spoiled the important good ball won by their forwards who had a good outing though losing several line-outs despite their throw-ins. Royal three quarters allowed the Pathana three quarters to run at will.
Isipathana drew first blood in the 16th minute of the game when Royal scrum half- Deen Careem’s clearance kick was smothered. Winger Youresh Fonseka dashed down the line to score. Isipathana full back Malik Jumad missed the conversation.
With the game being played at a very hot pace some of the spectators went out of control throwing few stones in to the playing area. The game was stopped for 5 minutes until the authorities were called in. After the resumption through a superb three quarter move Danushka Sooriyarachi touched down under the posts for Pathana leaving Royal’s defences in shambles. Malik Jumad added the extra points for Pathana to take a 12-0 lead at “Lemons”.
With the turn around Royal who got their act together briefly and reduced the gap through a superb forwards rush where hooker Adil Jabbar went over. Arshad Jamaldeen missed the difficult kick at goal.
Isipthana full back Malik Jumad increased their lead through a 25 meter penalty. Then came the try of the match. It was Isipathana skipper Tharindu Siriwardena who with his lightning speed won the loose ball and sent his line in motion. It was their nippy scrum half Mohamed Rizwan who ran the final 40 meters to touch down. They scored their last try in the dying stage of the game through Tharindu Siriwardena. Both kicks were missed by Malik Jumad.
Referee Pradeep Fernando
In the Junior games Isipthana won all of them. Under 12: 7-0. Under 14: 12-0 and Under 18: 7-5.
Thomians outclass Rajans
STC 45 Dharmarajah 3
At Bogambara S. Thomas beat Dharmarajah by a huge margin of 45 points to 3 in their Singer League Under 20 tie. At half time the winners led 28-0 |
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