Isipathana College hosted Trinity College today (13th of July) at Havelock Park in a week 4 clash of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024. Although the visitors had the lead at lemons, the Green Machine made a strong comeback during the second half to walk out victorious 15-13.
With wet underfoot conditions, it was not an easy task for both the teams to keep their discipline in handling the ball. During the first few minutes of the game, Isipathana College tried to use their pace and creativity in passing to make inroads and Trinity College did most of the defending. During such a defending attempt, a Trinity College player who tackled the ball carrier of Isipathana, collected a loose ball without coming from around, which gave away a penalty to the home team. Shahid Zumri, who missed out on a penalty opportunity just a few minutes before this, made sure to kick this one through to add the first points of the day. (IC 03 – 00 TCK)
Going into the latter parts of the first half, Trinity College managed to find momentum after Isipathana College conceded a penalty just outside of their own 22m line. The Skipper rightly went for the points and Yevan Hulangamuwa added the 3 points easily to make it a level playing field in terms of points. (IC 03 – 03 TCK)
With just 6 points scored in the first half, both the teams were desperate to score more points or at least get a single try. Isipathana had their moments in the first half but just could not finish the job. However, Trinity College, thanks to a lovely collection from a clearance by Hulangamuwa and an even better break, went deep into Isipathana’s half and Usmaan Safraz found the whitewash as the Trinity College supporters went up in joy. Hulangamuwa continued his good game and converted the try as the referee signalled for Half Time. (IC 03 – 10 TCK)
Half-Time :- Isipathana College 03 – 10 Trinity College
Trinity College managed to increase their lead inside the first 10 minutes of the second half via a penalty as Kalindu Silva knocked forward an up and under and the ball unluckily went straight to Kenula Mihisara who was in front of Silva. Hulangamuwa was successful once again with the kick for Trinity College (IC 03 – 13 TCK)
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The double digit lead for the visitors did not last long as Isipathana finally found the whitewash just a couple of minutes later. A lineout for Isipathana went smoothly inside the Trinity College half and some good running by their Skipper Nisaja Jayaweera and Thinethra Dodangoda took them very close. A quick recycle of the ball after Dodangoda was tackled and some quick hands from right to left got the job done for the home , as Nimantha Sandeepa managed to just reach out for the try. The conversion, however, was unsuccessful from Zumri. (IC 08 – 13 TCK)
With Isipathana finally scoring that all-important first try, the pendulum clearly started to swing in their favour as they made use of a penalty they received and decided to go for the kick into touch and the lineout. The forwards did the rest for Isipathana from there onwards as they kept going in for hard hits with the ball in hand, and 8 phases later, Kaveen Tharusha touched the ball down. With scores all equal, Isipathana decided to give Abdullah Faizer the kicking duty and he was successful in converting the try with a flat kick as Isipathana took the lead in the encounter. (IC 15 – 13 TCK)
Trinity College tried hard to find some points during the last few minutes of the game, but they unfortunately they lost the race against time and Isipathana College eventually won the game after a hard fought battle. Isipathana College had a lot more opportunities in the game to find the whitewash, but they could get the 5 pointers only twice, and as for Trinity – they struggled to enter the opposition 22m territory as much as they would have hoped for as knock forwards played a huge part in their demise. Isipathana, on the other hand, will be thrilled to see how their backline operated even with such hard conditions to run.
Avishka Hiran for Isipathana, although they did not score any points, played an important role in this win for the Green Machine. His pace was exceptional with the available conditions and he made some valuable ball carries for the team. He was always very hard to get away from while defending as well. Thus he was named the NDB Bank Player of the Match.
Full Time : Isipathana College 15 (2T 1C 1P) beat Trinity College 13 (1T 1C 2P)
NDB Bank Player of the Match : Avishka Hiran (IC)
Points Breakdown
Isipathana College : Nimantha Sandeepa 5 Points (1 Try), Kaveen Tharusha 5 Points (1 Try), Shahid Zumri 3 Points (1 Penalty), Abdullah Faizer 2 Points (1 Conversion)
Trinity College : Yevan Hulangamuwa 8 Points (1 Conversion 2 Penalties), Usman Safraaz 5 Points (1 Try)
 at Havelock Park in a week 4 clash of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024. Although the visitors had the lead at lemons, the Green Machine made a strong comeback during the second half to walk out victorious 15-13.){kind=link}