PATHANA OUTCLASS THORA 33-17

Isipathana college came up with a stupendous performance to bring down last years champions St.Thomas,college in their Milo all island schools knock-out quarter final played at Reid avenue. It was also sweet revenge for pathana as they avenged the defeat which they suffered against the thomians in last years final.

In a game played at a frantic pace it was the thomians who got the first chance of moving the score board when they were awarded a penalty but fly half Devin Jayasinghe kick was off target.From there onwards pathana made heavy inroads into the thomian 22 and accumulated their first points courtesy of a Malik Jumad drop goal. the greens scored again after 11 minutes when Prasad Devinda made a neat cross kick which saw winger Uresh Fonseka touching down mid left and full back Jumad converted for his side to lead 10 nil.They increased their lead to 13 points when Jumad fired across another penalty. the thominas hit back through a Jayasingha penalty but that was short lived when the pathanians scored through flanker Saajid Shuaib.it was fly half  Devinda,s brilliant cross kick that did the trick yet again as winger Shanaka Poornage tapped it right to the hands of his team mate who just fell over to do the honors. Malik was on target yet again to give the pathanians a 20-03 advantage. but just before the break the lads from mt.lavinia decreased the lead when center Anurudhdha Willwara  scored a brilliant try which was converted by Jayasinghe and the score read 20-13 in favor of the greens.

the second half got off to rather slow start with the pathanians enjoying more possession and virtually parking themselves in their opponents 22 but they gave back the advantage to their doughty opponents.but they got the first points on the board when  fly half Prasad Devinda was on target with well a excuted drop goal.they then delivered a stunning blow when Saajid Shuaib scored his second try of the match to make it 28-13.the thomians  had some hope left when anurudhdha willwara scored under the posts  which was also converted to make it 28-17.but Isipathana  then delivered the killer blow when Saajid Shuaib completed his hatrick which was virtually a carbon copy of the first try he scored.thus giving his side a well deserved 33-17 victory.

for the thomians the loss was not just a poor performance but also a double blow as this was the second loss they suffered against the same opposition.They would certainly have to go back to the drawing board and review what went wrong for them this season where as so much was expected of them this season.On the other hand pathana will be brimming with confidence.for pathana the halves combination of M.Rizwan and Prasad Devinda worked off smoothly while their forwards Nipuna Devinda,Tharindu Siriwardane,Muqsith Jaleel,Kumendra Dharmadasa and of course the hero for the day Saajid Shuaib were outstanding.the only setback for the day for the winners would be the injury which their diminutive flanker Deshan Subashana suffered in the first half.they will now have to regroup and prepare themselves for the big semi final against the league champs St.Peters college which will be played on the 14th (Wednesday) at CR FC .

"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

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.

"GREENS" fail yet again... ( Isipathana 10 -- St.Peters 27 )

For the 3rd consecutive year isipathana got off to a horrible or rather dreadful start when they went down to a well knit St.peters outfit 27points (2 goals,2 tries,1 penalty) to 10 ( 1 goal,1 penalty) in their opening match of the singer A division schools rugby league worked off at Havelock park.

The home side was led by no.08 Tharindu Siriwardane as skipper Ashan Gallage was unavailable due to injury.And scrum half M Rizwan and center M Ali whom also did not feature in this game ,always played in patches and they simply couldn’t cope with the speed and power of the SPC back division.

It was isipathana who took the lead as early as the first minute when Prasad Devinda booted over 22 meter penalty. However the peterites then launched wave after wave of attacks and it seemed it was just a matter of time for them to score however pathana just managed to halt them thanks to some last ditch tackeles which were made in utter desperation. SPC then came into level terms when their fly half Dulaj Perera who made his debut for St.peters after crossing over from wesley puting over and easy penalty. 10 minutes later St.peters took the lead after some scrappy defending from the pathana line.Full back Shenal Dias was caught in two minds and decide to kick a ball which was coming at him but kicked it directly at the SPC wing who wiggled his way score mid right.Dulaj missed the conversion.Isipathana then came back strongly and were trying hard to score. But then came a moment of which every pathana supporter felt disgusted of.SPC were awarded a scrum in their own 22. And center Dhanushka Ranjan ran right through the pathana 3 quarter line and sprinted nearly 100 yards to score under the posts.Dulaj made the easy conversion and SPC went into half time with 15-3 lead.

After the resumption pathana seemed to have organized their strategies but gave away possession very cheaply and when they did the peterites came rampaging thus gaining hard and valuable yards for their side.then came a moment of controversy when the peterite back division made a forward pass and the ball fell into the hands of the pathana wing umayanga sooriyabandara who was through but referee Irshad cader called back the play and then awarded a scrum to the home side much to the amazement of every1.SPC then scored yet again when powerful second rower shenal dias sneaked through the defence to score and scrum half Rizwan Meedin made no mistake with the conversion. 10 minutes later SPC seemed to have given the killer blow when another try was scored by their winger by now all hope was lost with the score board reading 27-03 in favor of SPC. pathana did get a concolation try when no.08 Tharindu Siriwardane barged over for a try under the posts with Devinda prasad making a quick conversion.with the game almost over the greens however did come back strongly but it was just too late as the final whistle was blown.

For SPC Shenal Diasz,skipper keith Gurusinghe, centers Bhanuka Nanayakkara and Dhanushka Ranjan were outstanding punching gapin holes in the pathana defense. For the greens they will have to improve in almost every component of the game if they are to prove anything this season. They missed a lot of tackles and seemed to be lacking the stamina. And three quarters seemed poor in defense and slow in attack. It will be interesting to see how the greens will come back in their next game against a strong kingswood side whom also will feature a strong three quarter line up.

Below are the scores of the other matches 

Anthony’s vs. Kingswood – Kingswood won 23-10

Trinity vs. Dharmaraja – Trinity won 44-05

Royal vs. POW – Royal won 35-06

Former manager speaks out ahead of season opener.

  

The Isipathana vs St.Peters match which will kick start the 2010 inter school rugby season is less than a week away and ahead of our key opening fixture ***** KINGS OF RUGBY***** got a hold of one of our former managers of the 1^st XV Mr.Dushan Wickramsinghe about his views and thoughts on the upcoming blockbuster match.

·        What do you think of the pathana side this year?

   “Along with the proper guidance I think its one of the strongest. I have worked with these set of lads when they were in their U-14,s. They seem to have a very good team spirit and understanding”.

·        What do you think of the other sides?

  “Well in general all the sides especially peters seem to be good. And don’t rule out Royal, Thora, Trinity and kingswood.They seem to be formidable as well”.

  

·        What would you expect on this match? (IC vs SPC)

    “St.Peters after their 22-12 loss to us last year will certainly come out all guns blazing for revenge and hence it won’t be easy. I think the game will depend on who will be able to hold their nerve under pressure”.

·        SPC has a good back division. Any comments?

      “Yes they do have some hard runners mainly their centers and wingers. But on the other hand I think we have quality players of our own who could counter this threat. But overall I think the scales will slightly be in favor of the peterites”.

·         Any thoughts on tactics and key points?

      “ well there will be some great individual battles like Shenal vs Muqsith, D. Ranjan vs Ashan and Keith vs Devinda and these would have a major impact on the outcome of the game”.

·        Who do you think will win?

   “Well Isipathana”.

Isipathana vs St.Peters 24^th April 18, 2010 @ Havelock park.

Kick off at 4.15pm

BE THERE TO SUPPORT THE GREENS !!!

CONFIDENT PATHANA RARING TO GO !!!

Isipathana College will come in for the 2010 season with most of their senior players remaining from last year and all of them have been hard at training.

 

They were led by Niroshan Fernando last year and they managed to finish fifth in the league. This year the lads from Isipathana will be led by explosive center Ashan Gallage who will be playing at second inside. The vice captain will be number 8 Thairindu Siriwardena who is tipped to be one of their key players. They will be going in to the season with 12 colorsmen which will surely be an advantage to them. The Pathanians have put in great emphasis on the XV a-side game as they did not take part in the sevens tournament and they are all out to win the league this year.

Captain Ashan will be a vital cog in the Pathana line up and he will be leading the backs this time. His agility, speed and knowledge of the game will strengthen the middle giving the much needed penetration for Pathana. Ashan is very reliable when it comes to attack and defense giving some crunching tackles mid field. Backs will be toughened by star fly half Prasad Devinda who adds a lot of flair to the line. His ability to hit gaps at top speed will be a sight to watch and he will certainly cause a lot of trouble to the opposition. He played a major role last year and was seen as one of their play makers. He will look to continue his super performance on to the coming season. The other play maker to look out for will be scrum half Mohamed Rizwan. He is a genius in creating gaps and will play a major role being the link man in the side. The other three quarters will be Prsahan Attanayake who will be playing both full back and fly, Mohamed Ali playing at center, Uresh Fonseka the speedster on the wing and Maalik Jumadh who will be moved to either full back or wing. When it comes to backs, Isipathana has a number of talented options and they will be sure to fire during game time.

The forwards have a lot of capable players in their ranks and they will be led this year by bulky number 8 Tharindu Siriwardena. His experience will assist the forwards to gain the much needed edge over the opposition. Dynamic wing forward Deshan Subashanarachchi has a crucial role to play this year and looks geared up for the challenge. Pack will also have the services of Danusha Sooriyarachchi who will be playing prop, Prasad playing at Hooker, Isum Fernando who will make up the front row. The main jumper for the Greens will be Mukshid Jaleel while the blind side flank will be taken up by gritty Sajid Suaid. The main strength for Pathana when talking about the forwards is their mobility, and their ability to retain possession. This will prove to be a great advantage complimenting the fast brand of Rugby they play.

The boys from Isipathana Mawatha will be coached by one of the solid third row forwards seen in the recent past, Shamlie Navaz. He captained the Isipthana team in the year 1998 and was one of the few players to have captained the Sri Lanka under 19 national side for two consecutive years (1997/98). He then went on to represent CR&FC and was also seen representing the country. He brings in a lot of experience in to the side and is seen as a coach who feeds in a lot of knowledge in to the young lads. The backs will be coached by another Pathana legend, Sajith Mallikarachchi who captained both the Kandy SC as well as the national side a few years back. His immense  game sense will help the backs greatly. The training staff consists of Sanju, Kumara and Ransinghe while they have two doctors on board with them – Dr. Wijesinghe and Dr. Jayawardena. The overall physical trainer for them will be Talaou Alilimma. One of the main strengths behind Isipathana’s success in the recent past has been also due to their great backing given by the old boys. The Rugby committee is headed by Hassan Nauzeer Sinhawansa has backed the boys along the way and are happy with the current situation of the team.

Isipathana College will go against St.Peters College which is tipped to be one of the thriller games in week one. And they are confident of putting in a solid performance against the Petes on the 24^th; the match will be played at Havelock grounds.

TEAM 2010, S GRIT NO MATCH FOR ALL STARS FLAIR !!!

It could be termed as the most powerful old boys team ever to play against the present team in the recent past and they certainly maintained that tag to their set standards when they completely outplayed the 2010 xv 49 points (2 goals, 7 tries) to 10 (1 goal, 1 penalty) in the annual Isipathana college present vs old boys rugby encounter played at worked off at Havelock park.

The game which saw a virtual CR and FC back division including 5 former captains of our college, Nimesh De Silva(2003),Ashan De Costa(2006),Damith Udayangana(2007),Dinusha Chaturanga(2008)and last years captain Niroshan Fernando taking part in addition to some star players with the likes of Rizah Mubarak, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Wishwamithra Jayasinghe and Lasintha De Costa and dhanushka botheju got off to flying start with the present boys trying to take controll from the start. They got the scoreboard rolling when Prasad devinda put over penalty from the 22. However the lead lasted just 10 minutes as the all stars got their act together and scored when fly half Niroshan Fernando powered his way for a try which was converted by Mubarak. Five minutes later havelocks flanker Ruwan Saranga scored to make it 12-3 for the All Stars.the second chucker proved to be a 1 sided affair where the All stars goin on a scoring spree with Dinesh Kumara, Ravin Romesh and Dinusha Chathuranga scoring to give the All Stars a commanding 27-3 lead At the start of the 3rd chucker the All stars got off to a flying start with the Costa brothers and Wishwamithra jayasinghe touching down for tries and N.Fernando making a glorious conversion for one of them to make it 44-03.however the present boys got their act together in the latter stages and were rewarded with a try when second rower Muqsith Jaleel sent out a neat short pass for Saajid Shuaib to score under the posts with Devinda making the easy conversion. The 4th chucker ended with Srinath Sooriyabandara sidestepping his way for a brilliant try to end the match 49 points to 10

For the All Stars Niroshan Fernando and the Costa brothers were outstanding while the former along with Wishwamithra Jayasinghe kept their fellow opponents at bay with some bone jarring tackles.for the Team of 2010 the forwards especially Muqsith Jaleel, Saajid shuaib, flanker Deshan Subashan and No 08 and skipper for the day Tharindu Siriwardane stood out while the three,s who were minus skipper Ashan Gallage and winger Shanak Poornage simply couldn’t settle down in the match as they were under tremendous pressure from the All Stars back division. The positives which the present boys could take are that they tackled well despite letting down 9 tries and they seem to have reduced the amount of mistakes. However it would be back to the drawing board for Shamly Nawaz and Sajith Mallikaarchi and their boys ahead of their other pre season friendly game against C.W.W Kannangara which is scheduled to be played on the 2nd of April.