St Anthony’s College Kandy earned themselves a morale boosting victory against the defending champions Isipathana College today at the Bogambara grounds after two consecutive losses.
Despite their lowly league positions, both sides arrived at the Bogambara ground in good form knowing that a win would more or less ensure their safety from relegation.
The game began with the kick off made by Pathanian fly half J.K.H Perera. It was fast and physical right from the start and the first opportunity came to Pathana as the No. 8- B.H.U Premarathne himself made an excellent try in the second minute of the play and was converted by Perera successfully. Antonians gained an opportunity to kick at goal, and settled nerves with Sajith Hemantha making no mistakes with his boots.
The bruising tackles continued with Charles Praveen giving Premarathne a first half headache. With the excellent working of the line, the Antonian fly half FazlurRahman made an eighty meter sprint and made an outstanding try, but the kicker missed the conversion. In reply Pathana right wing R.M. Tharanatha scored a try on the left corner and the kicker made no mistake in converting.
Antonian skipper Yakoob Ali came up with a try crashing straight through the middle and it was his third for the season. Sajith made no mistakes with his boots in converting. A kick at goal opportunity came to the Pathanians in the 21st minute but Perera was well wide with the penalty.
Former Antonian skipper Panduka Angammana was awarded a yellow card for committing a professional foul and being sent to the sin-bin as a result on the 22nd minute of play. The visitors gained a penalty chance and this time Perera made no mistakes.
On the 38th minute Antonian left wing C.B Ranaraja was sent off for his heavy tackle resulting in a red card. From then onwards the Pathanians had a one man advantage in the play. A few minutes to go for the short whistle, Isipathana Scrum half S.P Sooriyaarachchi was awarded a yellow card and sent off.
Half time 15 – 17 in favor of Isipathana.
The second half exposed Isipathana’s attacking style of play but with pressure building high, the Green’s were limited to a framework.Antonian fly half Fazlur made a fabulous try on the left corner breaking the heavy defense and it was converted to a goal by Sajith successfully. In the 50th minute the Antonian right wing Nimesha Gunasinghe made an extra ordinary try on the right corner, but the kicker was well wide.
No. 8 for St. Anthony’s PandukaAngammana scored a try thrashing the visitor’s defensebut the conversion was poor. Isipathana’s final try came in the 80th minute of play where Right wing Tharanatha gushed his way through, finally to the try line but that was not sufficient to chase down theAntonians reply.
The overall score stood 32 – 22 in favor of Eagles
The game ended with a clear winner St. Anthony’s College registering their first victory for the season against defending champions Isipathana College. This turns the Rugby league table with the Antonians showcasing that they consist of some great potential this season.
