Isipathana College secured a very hard-fought victory against Science College in a very low-scoring encounter at Havelock Park today. The final scores read 17 points to 10.
The opening minutes saw Science College dominating proceedings. They almost scored a try off a rolling maul but Isipathana managed to turnover possession. The game was swinging both ways as possession kept switching between both teams with missed line outs and knock ons. They further pushed back Science into their own half and opted to go for the 3 points since they had not scored any points in the first 10 minutes. The kick was missed and Isipathana missed a try-scoring opportunity due to a forward pass.
The 22nd minute saw Isipathana scoring their first try when a cardinal handling error by Science College paved way to a 5m scrum in favour of Isipathana, with Ramith De Silva doing the finishing touches. This time the captain took over kicking duties but made an uncharacteristic error with his aim. (5-0)
Science College used the rolling maul to good effect but could not hold onto possession on a number of occasions, which put Isipathana back in the driver’s seat. Things only got worse for Science College as another 22m line out was missed out due to a crooked throw. In the end the first half saw only a solitary try by Isipathana.
Half time- Isipathana College 05 (1T) – Science College 00
The second half saw Science College playing to a different tempo as they made their way into the Isipathana 22. 3 penalties later the Isipathana prop forward was yellow carded and Science had no hesitation to go for another line out. This time Isipathana managed to stop the rolling maul, but scrum half Rasanga Dinushan squeezed past the narrow gap and found himself on the try line. Tharush Silva added the extras and Science were finally in the lead for the first time in the game. (5-7)
Their lead did not last very long as a cardinal knock on paved way for another scrum in favour of Isipathana; just like the first try they scored through a line move as Lukman Riyaz touched down close to the posts untouched. Skipper Rubeyru added the extras and Isipathana were back in the lead. (12-7)
Science used their pods of 3 to good effect and troubled the Isipathana defense for a considerable amount of time. With a number of penalties in favour of them and without a try in sight, they went for the easy 3 points and Tharush Silva narrowed the gap to just 2 points. (12-10)
Isipathana were not done yet as they wanted to win the game by a fair margin and scored soon after the restart. The big Green Machine drove past the Science defence and took the game away from Science, as they were in need of a converted try in order to level the game since the conversion was missed. (17-10)
Despite the replacement scrum half Dinith Bhagya being yellow carded with a few minutes on the clock, the Science forwards were too eager to engage in the scrum, which cost them possession. Isipathana managed to push Science back into their own half and a final scrum saw the Isipathana fly half kick the ball out of the park at the final whistle. Isipathana secured a hard fought win but Science made things very difficult.
Full Time – Isipathana College 17 (3T 1C) – Science College 10 (1T 1C 1P)
Player of the Match – Dahen Wickramarachchi
Referee – Ishanka Abeykoon
Isipathana College –
Tries – Ramitha De Silva, Lukman Riyaz, Dahen Wickramarachchi
Conversions – Manilka Rubeyru
Yellow Cards – Sasindu Sihasara, Dinith BhagyaScience College –
Tries – Rasanga Dinushan
Penalties and Conversions – Tharush Silva
