St. Anthony’s College hosted the unbeaten Isipathana College in a Week 07 clash of the Dialog Schools Rugby League at the Nittawela Stadium up in Kandy. Isipathana College finally managed to register a comfortable win this week after back to back close shaves in the last two weeks. The encounter ended with a final scoreline of 38-08 in favour of the visitors.
Shahid Zumri drew first blood in the game after a lovely solo effort where he just evaded four defenders of the opposition, showcasing some phenomenal footwork as the Antonians failed to even lay a proper tackle on him. Zumri converted the try himself to increase the early lead for the visitors (SACK 00 – 07 IC)
The hosts kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again after the first try from the Green Machine as the visitors once again found themselves inside the 22m territory of the hosts. Some slick passing from right to left and a well timed back of the hand pass from Zumri to Dinada Wickramarachchi was enough for the boys in Green to register a second try. The conversion went astray this time from Zumri (SACK 00 – 12 IC)
Thinethra Dodangoda went over for the third try of the first half as Zumri once again produced a scintillating run and gave an offload out while getting tackled as Dodangoda had enough speed to gain the remaining metres. The conversion was unsuccessful again but lead was nearing 20 for the Green Machine (SACK 00 – 17 IC)
St. Anthony’s College finally scored a try against the round of play after they received a penalty and a lovely territory gaining kick took them just 5m short of the whitewash and from the line-out that followed Rakesh Pillay had enough power to go all the way. The conversion however didn’t go over for the home team (SACK 05 – 17 IC)
Half – Time : Isipathana College 17 – 05 St. Anthony’s College
Isipathana made inroads into the Antonian half early in the second half and a penalty advantage they received near the 5m line enabled Isipathana to take the tap with skipper Nisaja Jayaweera going over. Zumri converted the try this time to increase the lead by two (SACK 05 – 24 IC)
Few minutes later the home team received a penalty for a tackler not rolling away infringement and Deshan Liyanage added the three points after the skipper decided to go for points (SACK 08 – 24 IC)
On their way to the next try Isipathana used the width of the field beautifully not once, not twice but thrice as they went from right to left and left to right at will. With the passing game in full flow Nimantha Sandeepa finished the job as he went in for a big hit against the last defender in a one on one situation and managed to withstand it successfully. Zumri increased their buffer even further with another good conversion (SACK 08 – 31 IC)
With majority of their replacement players in the park, Isipathana scored another morale boosting try as they kept hitting hard and under pressure the hosts conceded a penalty just few metres away from the whitewash and Naveed Thahir was able to go over and touch the ball down even with around three or four defenders hanging on to him. Sandeepa converted the final try of the game for Isipathana (SACK 08 – 38 IC)
It was a solid performance from the Green Machine as they went from strength to strength with 6 back to back wins and with this result they have also confirmed their spot in the super rounds. Their only real worry from the game was overcooking the territory gainers they opted to go with after receiving penalties. For St. Anthony’s College it’s their sixth consecutive loss the complete opposite of the Pathanians and they really need to figure out their strong suit come next week. Taking the quick tap after receiving penalties in an unnecessary manner cost them a lot in this fixture and they should really think twice before opting for the kick and chase. Their game next week will be a virtual relegation playoff decider against Sri Sumangala College.
Shahid Zumri bagged another NDB Bank Player of the Match award for his clinical display of playmaking. He scored a try today and managed to lay the foundation for two other tries while converting three tries as well. Isipathana will be hoping that he continues this fine form with just 3 weeks left in the tournament.
Full Time : Isipathana College 38 (6T 4C) beat St. Anthony’s College 08 (1T 1P)
NDB Bank Player of the Match : Shahid Zumri (IC)
Isipathana College : Shahid Zumri 11 Points (1 Try 3 Conversions), Nimantha Sandeepa 7 Points (1 Try 1 Conversion), Nisaja Jayaweera 5 Points (1 Try), Thinethra Dodangoda 5 Points (1 Try), Dinada Wickramarachchi 5 Points (1 Try), Naveed Thahir 5 Points (1 Try)
St. Anthony’s College : Rakesh Pillay 5 Points (1 Try), Deshan Liyanage 3 Points (1 Penalty)
