Isipathana College sent a strong message to their rivals, showing why they are the team to beat this season, as they thoroughly outclassed S.Thomas’ College at the Havelocks Sports Club.
Isipathana came into this game as the league leaders, and were looking to extend their unbeaten run against a Thomian outfit that is still in the process of finding their feet since returning to top flight schools rugby. The lads in green were no doubt the favourites at kickoff, but the fans would have expected a closer game than was finally reflected on the scoreboard.
Isipathana got things underway with a straightforward penalty to put up the first points on the board. They looked dangerous from the outset, executing some good plays, but missed several oppurtunities on the outside, perhaps missing the experience of their regular playmaker Sudam Sooriyarachchi, who missed out on this game. The Thomians initially showed that they were up for it defensively, but were unable to convert this into much, going too wide without adequate support several times. The Pathana pressure was relentless, and all it took was one slip up as a questionable pass by the Thomian N8 De Silva saw Isipathana pounce on the ball and carry it up from the halfway point, before prop Damith Dissanayake plowed over the line to score the first try of the game. A difficult conversion was whiffed leaving the score at 8 – 00 in favour of the Greens.
Isipathana found themselves on the scoreboard again shortly afterwards, as a good tackle by their N8 Omalka Gunaratne earned them a penalty, and the Thomian 3rd row was once again found wanting against the pace and passing of the league leaders. W.K Silva was the man to go over for the try this time, and a much better kick by Chathura Dilshan from an identical spot to his previous attempt saw the visitors tally go up to 15.
Isipathana suffered a small set back when their try scorer Dissanayake was sent to the sin bin after the referee had cautioned the packs on both sides on numerous occasions. The loss hardly seemed to dent them however, as they continued to make so brilliant moves across the pitch, and only some heroic last gasp defending by the Thomians prevented the lead from increasing before the half time whistle.
Half Time STC 00 – 15 IC (1T, 1G, 1P)
The second half of the game was one that Thomian supporters would want to erase from memory as soon as possible. Isipathana wasted no time on reasserting themselves after the break, with skipper Shenal Silva dummying past the Thomian defender, creating loads of space, before handing the ball to Dissanayake, who returned from the sin bin to score his second try of the game. Dilshan was on point with the conversion again, and at 22-00, things were beginning to look ominous for the Thomians.
The next try was a beautiful piece of play to watch, as the winger Gallage made a thundering run down the right flank, weaving in and out through the Thomian defence before off loading the ball with pinpoint accuracy to S.A Rankothge, who went over the line to add to the Thomians misery. The floodgates seemed to open at this point, as both Shenal Silva and Kongahawaththa scored for Isipathana in quick succession, in what was a period of total dominance by the visiting team. By the time Dilshan converted Kongahawaththa’s try the score stood at 41-00 with no respite in sight for S. Thomas’.
Kongahawaththe wasn’t done with the Thomians however, as he scored yet another try to bring the tally up to 46. It became evident just how badly rattled the Thomians were, when Chathura Dilshan was allowed to waltz through without a single attempted tackle for what was probably the easiest try he had scored this season. With the 50 point margin established, all that was left for the Green Machine to do was to put icing on the cake, and they did so with tries by skipper Silva and Punchihewa.
When the fulltime whistle finally blew, the Thomians were left battered and reeling from one of the heaviest defeats that they have suffered this season. They were valiant in defence, but were simply outclassed by a far superior Isipathana outfit, who have shown that they are more than worthy of the tags of favourites to win the title this year.
Full Time STC 00 – 61 IC (4G 6T 1P)
“We are taking it one match at a time, but we’re confident that we have what it takes to win the league this year. They (S.Thomas’) played well but when you play with all your heart you can always win” – Isipathana Captain Shenal Silva
ThePapare player of the Match – Shenal Silva
