Sunday, May 30, 2010

"GREENS" DESTROY ROYAL 27-05

Isipathana coming in to the game as underdogs came up with a gallant display of  fast open rugby to beat the much fancied Royal College by 27 Points (2 Goals, 2 Tries, 1 Penalty) to 5 Points (1 Try) 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 also played for the Maj Milroy Fernando Memorial Trophy which was wrestled back by pathana after this win


Isipatana scrum half Mohommed Rizwan makes way to plant the third try.

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 Cassims clearance kick was smothered by pathana second rower muqsith jaleel and  Winger Youresh Fonseka dashed down the line to score. Isipathana full back Malik Jumad missed the conversion

With the game being played at a very hot pace some of the royal  spectators went out of control throwing few stones in to the playing area when isipathana were awarded a penalty. The game was stopped for 5 minutes until the authorities were called in. After the resumption scrum half M rizwan made a jinxing run evading several royal defenders and then set the line in motion which eventually through saw 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 power and 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 center kovinda wimalachandra which was conveeted by  by Jumad to cap one of the finest victories over Royal ..

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

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Isipathana has the last laugh



By David Stephens, Pic by Ranjith Perera
In a nail-biting match which saw both teams throw everything but the kitchen sink at each other, Isipathana beat St. Anthony’s College 16-15 in an under 20 ‘A’ Division match played at a muddy Havelock Park yesterday.
Isipathana notched up one goal from fly half Prasad Devinda and three penalties from Malik Jumath in response to a goal from R.C Bandara, a penalty from captain Tharindu Chanaka and a try from Dinushan Ariyapala.
A Pathana player on the move being held back by an Antonian.
In the 37th minute, with Isipathana leading 16-15 after St. Anthony’s Ariyapala scrambled over the line to score, the match hung nicely in the balance. With only a few minutes left, the conversion by Samith Dananjaya would most certainly have clinched victory for the Antonians.
However Dananjaya’s kick fell way short and with it all chances of his team picking up a win.
The encounter had a number of scrappy moments, with players from both sides slipping across the turf or mishandling relatively easy passes. This is almost entirely the fault of a pitch that was shrouded in thick mud.
The first try came in just the seventh minute of the game after Devinda finished off a swift move to thunder over the try line. This sent the home crowd wild and Isipathana seemed brimming with confidence. However against the run of play St. Anthony’s struck back through a try from Bandara to silence the home crowd.
This seemed to shock Isipathana back into life and they proceeded to dominate the remaining portion of the first half before finally converting two penalties through the boot of Jumath. At the end of the first half the scores were 13-7 in favour of Isipathana.
The second half played out like a boxing match with both teams going at each other with several waves of attack. Coming out with new life, St Anthony’s hit back through a penalty from their captain Chanaka, to once again put the pressure back on the Greens
Isipathana replied in style with a laser guided penalty kick from Jumath that was taken quite a fair distance away from the two posts. The Antonians refused to lie down and the try by Ariyapala in the waning moments of the game served to keep the Isipathana fans on the edge of their seats right until the final whistle blew.