Isipathana College led by charismatic center Kushan Idunil won the Singer Schools Rugby League 2016 beating S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia by 28 points (3T,2C,3P) to 24 points (4T, 2C) in the all-important decider worked out at CR & FC grounds on Saturday evening.
Isipathana College Captan Kushan Idunil speaking to ThePapare.com
Isipathana College Coach Nilufer Ibrahim speaking to ThePapare.com
Isipathana College last won the League Championship in 2014 under the captaincy of Shenal Silva. The determined Isipathana defence stood strong against the heavier Thomian pack in a brilliant & thrilling finale.
In the amidst of a packed crowd, Isipathana full back Gayan Wickramarathne kicked off the game from right to left. The Greens attacked early on spreading it wide to test the Thomian line defense before star-winger Naveen Henakankanamage was yellow-carded for lifting am Isipathana player horizontally.
Isipathana used the penalty, kicked it to the corner and initiated the rolling-maul perfectly as no.8 Vageesha Weerasinghe scored the first try. Gayan Wickramarathne converted excellently. (IC 07 – STC 00)
Few minutes later, Vageesha Weerasinghe turned the ball over inside their 22’ off an untidy Thomian ruck and gave the ball to Sumudu Rankothge who used the one-man advantage and off-loaded to Chamod Fernando who ran 50-meters to score under the posts. Wickramarathne added the extra points. (IC 14 – STC 00)
Fan Photos – Isipathana College vs S.Thomas’ College
Isipathana extended the lead further just before the first quarter when prop-forward Malinda Deshappriya was infringed for hands in the ruck as Gayan Wickramarathne booted over a 25-meter penalty kick. (IC 17 – STC 00)
S. Thomas’ College finally got their act together in the 25th minute when the Isipathana no.5 Sudeera Gayanath was sent to the sin-bin for bringing the maul down as the Thomian no.8 Sachitha Jayathilake playing with a fractured hand scored through the short side to put his College in the scoreboard. Ashwantha Herath bisected the posts to add extra points. (IC 17 – STC 07)
The lads by the sea tested the Isipathana defence continuously before they finally fell apart and Dhanuja Wijerathne took a quick tap and barged through 4 defenders to score. Herath missed the conversion. (IC 17 – STC 12)
Just before the half-time whistle, Kushan Indunil sniped through the Thomian defence in the near corner and went over. However, the try was over-ruled by the assistant referee as the kicking tee had arrived from the bench before the Isipathana half-back Harith Bandara took the quick tap. Gayan Wickramarathne booted over the penalty to extend the lead going into the much-needed half-time.
HT: Isipathana College 20 (2T, 2C, 2P) – S. Thomas’ College 12 (2T, 1C)
After lemons, the Thomian inside centre, Ashwantha Herath kicked off the 2nd half. Five minutes into the half, the Thomians were penalized for a late charge as Gayan Wickramarathne slotted over the 25-meter penalty through the uprights. (IC 23 – STC 12)
Photo Album – S.Thomas’ College v Isipathana College – Schools Rugby 2016
The first quarter of the second half was all about Isipathana heart, as the Green Machine defended wave after wave of ferocious Thomian pressure inside their 22’. Their defensive efforts paid off as the Thomians were not penetrative enough to break the resolute Pathana cover defence.
In the 65th minute of the match, no.8 Vageesha Weerasinghe of Isipathana collected a loose ball and sprinted nearly 70 meters to score the match-winning try. Wickramarathne failed to convert. (IC 28 – STC 12)
With less than 10 minutes to go, the Isipathana defence made repeated infringements in the breakdowns which led to another yellow-card shown to Gayan Wickramarathne. Prop-forward, Isuru Ekanayake was also sent to the sin-bin for repeated infringements as Isipathana was down to 13 players.
Thora finally broke-through the Isipathana defence as Ashwantha Herath barged over the try-line to score a converted try. In the final move of the day, Naveen Henakankanamage touched down in the far corner, too little too late for the lads from Mount Lavinia, as the spirited Isipathana team maintained their unbeaten run avenging their 7s defeat by the Thomians earlier in the season. (IC 28 – STC 24)
Isipathana were finally able to grab hold of the league trophy that eluded them last year, going out worthy winners in front of a packed rugby fraternity.
Full-Time: Isipathana College 28 (3T, 2C, 3P) – S. Thomas’ College 24 (4T, 2C)
ThePapare Player of the Match – Vageesha Weerasinghe (Isipathana No.8)
Referee – Irshad Cader
Points Scorers
Isipathana College – Vageesha Weerasinghe 10 points (2 tries), Chamod Fernando 5 points (1 try), Gayan Wickramarathne 13 points (3 penalties, 2 conversions)
S. Thomas’ College – Dhanuja Wijerathne 5 points (1 try), Sachitha Jayathilake 5 points (1 try), Ashwantha Herath 7 points (1 conversion, 1 try), Dion Diaz 2 points (1 conversion), Naveen Henakankanamage 5 points (1 try)
 to 24 points (4T, 2C) in the all-important decider worked out at CR & FC grounds on Saturday evening.){kind=link}