Isipathana College secured their maiden league title after 2016 — and Major Milroy Fernando trophy –, defeating Royal College in a humdinger of an encounter as the Josephians took advantage of the Royalists’ defeat to sneak past them on the league table, defeating Wesley at Havelock Park.
Isipathana College vs Royal College
Royal came in as favourites while the Lads from Pathana played in front of a home crowd, never seen before for a Schools’ Rugby game.
Visiting Royal started with an early lead, however, their demise began when Abdullah Yoosuf saw red and their line-out malfunctioned soon after.
Isipathana hung in there with three penalties until five-eighth Naveen Kanishka weaved his way through like a hot knife through butter. The try opened the flood gates even though Royal managed a try of their own, however, a contender for try of the season, came soon after through Stephan Jayakanth as the hosts left the best for last.
Royal was caught off guard as their defence fell asleep out-wide and their resistance was broken.
There was no way back from then on as Pathana sealed the deal. The malfunctioning line-out and maul couldn’t have come at a far worse time as the defending champions failed to make it 4-in-a-row.
Full time: Isipathana College 21 (2T 1C 3P) defeated Royal College 15 (2T 1C 1P)
St. Joseph’s College vs Wesley College
Royal’s defeat paved the way for the Josephians to go up the table into no.2 and they made no mistake doing so.
Wesley put on a show during the first half, however, they ran out of resistance, crumbling at the hands of the Josephian forward pack.
The home sides front-8 were too good, both in attack and defence in the second half, nullifying any attack and striking back with force.
Wesley surprisingly benched halfback Muralitharan, hoping for impact off the bench, but an unfortunate injury saw him leave the field 3-minutes after being subbed on. His impact was non-existent, neither was Jayawardena from 10 and Jayaweera from 15, leaving the visitors high and dry.
The Josephians cruised through in the second 35, winning as predicted before kick-off, equalling their best-ever league finish.
Full Time: St. Joseph’s College 26 (4T 3C) defeated Wesley College 11 (1T 2C)
