Isipathana College hosted Royal College at the CR & FC grounds for the Major Milroy Fernando Trophy and came up winners with a 15-14 victory.
Proceedings kicked off with team introductions to the distinguished guests of the day, led by Sri Lankan Rugby’s very own Yoshitha Rajapaksha followed by Dilroy Fernando and the principals of the respective schools.
The first quarter of the game saw a high pitched game with 3 tries being recorded, two for the hosts and the visitors registering one try. The Havelock park lads were first on the board with good hands working the ball wide and finally I. Kongahawatta stepping from the defense and going on his merry way to score. The scorer himself took the conversion but was unsuccessful, early lead for Pathana 5 nothing.
The Royalists were not to be caught napping against one of their arch nemeses and responded with an unconverted try, wiping out the hosts’ lead. The Reid Avenue winger B.D. Madushan pushed a strong run down the flank brushing off the defense to score in the corner. Captain Nimshan Jayawardana sent the conversion wide and kept the scores deadlocked at 5 all.
The Green Machine got their act together to pull themselves into the lead once again; this time with seniors U. Gunarathna and S. Sooriyarachchi doing the good work to send prop G.Disanayaka bowling over the line, 10-5 Isipathana ahead once again.
The encounter has always promised to be an enthralling one and this season was not going to be any different as the proceedings unfolded. The hosts seemed to have a slight upper hand during the half holding on to marginally more possession and having good turnover ball.
The first yellow card of the day was dished out by referee Irshad Cader with Isipathana’s G.A. Perera pulling a dangerous tackle and was sent to the cooler. The ensuing penalty was deftly sent between the posts by Royal’s Nishan Jayawaradana reducing the deficit to a mere 2 points, 10-8. The Blue and Gold Captain was the one to put the visitors ahead courtesy of another penalty just on the short whistle, and the teams took to the huddle with the visitors leading for the first time during the game.
Half time: Royal 11 – Isipathana 10.
The turnaround saw a different Royal team as they rallied together more cohesively to keep possession and pile the pressure on the opponents. The Green Machine was not handling the pressure too well conceding mistakes and not helping their cause. Jayawardana had the opportunity to extend his teams lead in the initial stages of the second half itself but his boot did not make the cut. The hosts continued with their infringements with the Royalist playing a good close quarter game and Jayawardana was once more called in for kicking duties, which he obliged willingly and this time gave his side the advantage with his 3fer. 14-10 Royal extends their lead.
The game progressed to its last quarter with the visitors leading and then the Green Machine struck with a supreme rolling mall bulldozing their opposite numbers and conquering 20 meters plus to plant the ball over the line to grab back the lead. O. P. Gunarathan was the ball carrier having done heavy work all day long and his hefty fends and yardage was deservedly rewarded with a try. I.Kongahawatta was unsuccessful for the third time with a conversion and the host snuck back into a marginal lead 15-14.
The try put the Royalists into high gear with some fiery play coming in from the forwards and causing their counterpart to err once again. They purposefully gained yardage and worked themselves to the try line. During the close quarter play Royal’s T. Perera was sent off due to repeated infringements and M.S. Haniffa was also shown yellow for chatter. Referee Cader was not finished showing his colours as D.L. Jayakodi was also sent before, having touched the ball for entering the playing area prior to clearance; three Royals to the sin bin in a matter of seconds!
Down to 12 men Royal gave a sterling performance holding onto possession clearing when necessary and defending with every single player on the field. Pathana could not make any inroads into opposition territory nor score a solitary point despite the number advantage.
Royal continued on their pressure path having gotten back to their usual numbers and their persistence gave them once last breath of air, unsurprisingly penalty duty for Jayawardana. It was the kick to take the game home and change the settings of the Mjr. Milroy Fernando Trophy. Alas it was not to be the case, as the kick went astray and Referee Cader closed proceedings.
The hosts only just managed to take the game home, their forwards were the more noteworthy playmakers of the day led by O. Gunawardana and Captain S. D. Silva. The Royalists proved to be a more rounded side using their entire arsenal well with Captain Jayawardana the stand out player.
Full time score: Isipathana 15 – Royal 14.
The Papare.com Player of the Match – Nimshan Jayawardana
Jayawardana had this to say about the team’s performance: “My boys played well, we gave it our all and fell short by a bit”.
Nilufer Ibrahim the Isipathana coach expressing his thoughts on the game stated the lads could have been more cohesive and were playing in patches which hurt the execution of the planned approach and will look to remedy the same going forward into the season.
