Isipathana College claimed victory taking down league giants, St. Peter’s College through a tactful game.
The rugby atmosphere was intensifying; everyone’s attention was towards Isipathana College. It’s true, rugby is about “tearing the opponents apart” but the green troupes forgot the figurative sense of the statement in the last game. It wasn’t surprising when they were gaining much attention early on.
After the preliminary matches, ranging from Under 13 to under 16, first fifteen of both teams roared into the grounds. Regardless of the shift of the venue from St. Peter’s college grounds to Sugathadasa Stadium, the turn up was huge. It was usual start but with a confused look on the faces of the players. For Isipathana this was a very important game not faring well enough this season. On the other hand St. Peter’s College had no idea what to expect from their victory mad opponent having witnessed a ferocious match against Royal College.
The match officials were on their toes, knowing they had a lot more responsibilities to run the game smooth; they had a very close look at the discipline of Isipathana College. Fighting the extra pressure, though Isipathana prevented a try just before the line by Peter’s No. 25 they ended up letting the blues break into score with a penalty. The kicker C. Jerome was to take this first penalty.
“We knew the officials are going to be tough on us. After all we can’t expect a fair judgment taking the brief past into account. It’s not the game we should worry about but the discipline. Within this season itself our players have improved a lot but unfortunately we weren’t able to make use of it due to distractions” coach Shamly Nawas of Isipathana College commented to ThePapare team.
Even though the start was in favor of Peter’s No. 10, Isipathana College turned the game around. While No. 11 and 26 missed the passes J. Perera at No. 10 saved the overall effort with a penalty. The cheers were firing up from the crowd as Pathana managed to score in the first few minutes itself.
Taking the advantage of the winds Isipthana College scored another penalty within first few minutes leading the game. Even the coach of Peter’s College noted it wasn’t surprising that Isipathana College easily lead the game in the beginning since it was about positing. “Though we cover the ground and build a strong side to overcome the disadvantages the kicking was too much of an obstacle “he further added. Nevertheless C. Jerome was back in attack settling scores 6-6 with another penalty.
Meanwhile the tension between the two teams was rising but it was also obvious that players from both sides were making sure limits were not exceeded. As a knock comes from a player of isipathana, the blues were clam enough to treat it with a smile and settle while the same was visible other way round. Rather than being explicit with actions Isipathana had tamed themselves down to just throwing a few jokes around. This was visible through the yellow cards both teams received. It is a sign that the tension was managed and the game was kept running.
Finally as the half time was about to close in Isipathana led the game with another penalty. Coming to attack it was once again Perera who was also the scorer of the previous two penalties.
Moving on to the second half the try line was in favor of St. Peter’s College. Being a strong side in the league so far the crowd was curious to see a turnover in scoring. This was mostly noticeable with instructions being called out from the crowd constructively to support the game. However it wasn’t the predicted performance from Peterirtes leaving Pathana to score the first try in the game. At this point the scores were 16 – 6 with a huge advance which allowed Isipathana to redo their game plan with much confidence.
Not to mention that this self-assurance was clearly poured on to the players while some marvelous performances were visible by the green camp; where some were carrying two players on them to break the defenses of Peter’s College. For example, Hirantha Perera broke on to the try line crashing the lines to score afore mentioned try. The expected comeback from Peter’s was visible at this point with two penalties pushing the overall score to a 12 just four behind Pathana. The final try for Isipathana was next with a comer flag touch down. Though the side change did not help them with required distance for the conversion they were at lead once again with over 10 points.
Hunting for the crucial victory Peterites brought in a lot of kicks. Along with this the additional changes in players provided Pete’s with the try they were longing for to total up for 19. Unfortunately they were too late in the reply. While they remained just three points behind, the win, the game, the time, wrapped up handing the victory to Isipathana College.
“We followed our coach’s plan and played extremely carefully” the triumphant captain of Isipathana College, Shenal, went on to remark “I remember saving two tries in the last few minutes of the game. Also it wasn’t the individual performance we were worried about. At the end of day playing as a team we won as a team.”
