Isipathana - Trinity final should be a thriller

The confrontation between Isipatana College, Colombo and Trinity College, Kandy in the Milo President’s Trophy final at the Royal Sports Complex at 4.30 pm today should turn out to be a thriller.

With both teams boasting of powerful packs and speedy sets of three quarters a terrific tussle for supremacy can be expected. Isipatana is enjoying a wonderful season having emerged runners-up in the Singer ‘A’ Division League losing just one match (10-11) to eventual champions Royal. The Trinitians came up with some superb performances in the latter part of the league tournament to finish in third position despite losing three matches. 

Isipatana entered the final with a runaway 47-0 win over Kingswood in the semi-finals while the Trinitians stormed into the final with smashing wins over Dharmaraja (54-17) and St. Peter’s (32-14) in the quarter and semi-final respectively. 

Trinity skipper Murad Ramzeen has led the side admirably and has been a source of inspiration to his teammates with his fiery loose play and has been ably supported by Ravi Bandara, Randika Alwis, Savinda Unamboowe, Uchitha Weerakoon, Sachintaka Perera and the omnipresent No 8 Sean Foster but today they will be confronted by equally good forwards in Saajid Suhayb, Kumindra Dharmadasa, Ganidu Weerasinghe, Arun Kumar, Nipuna Devendra and the indefatigable hooker Prasad Madusanka. 

In Sanjaya Somasiri and Rehan Weerakoon the Trinitians have a superb halves combination with Rehan Weerakoon’s daring breaks having the opponents defence in disarray. In Dilshan Kalaniyangoda and Kanil Seneviratne the Trinitians have two hard running centres who are capable of tearing apart the Isipatana defence. The biggest threat to the Isipatanians could be posed by that powerful runner on the wing in Mohamed Seshan while full back Dinuk Nayakaratne has the knack of joining the line to form the overlap. 

Isipatana’s ‘threes’ too have played a key role in their success this season. The halves combination of Kavindu de Costa and skipper Prasad Devinda have hit it off smoothly. Devinda has the ability to pick the tiniest of gaps while his long kicks to touch have given them territorial advantage. Centres Ashan Gallage and Sharmal Chathuranga have time and again pierced the opponents defence with their deceptive runs while Mekalanka Pramoda is likely to test the Trinity defence to the hilt with his daring runs on the wing in addition to attacking full back Shanaka Kumara. 

Isipatana will strive to break the 10 year hoodoo having last won the President’s Trophy in 2001 under Ranga Perera while Trinity will aim to lay their hands on the trophy for the first time since the inception of the tourney in 1995. 

Isipatana - Udaya Kumara, Prasad Madusanka, Thusitha Mithraratne, Arun Kumar, Ganidu Weerasinghe, Kumendra Dharmadasa, Saajid Suhayb, Wasala Wimalaweera, Kavindu de Costa and Prasad Devinda (Captain), Shenal Dias, Ashan Gallage, Sharmal Chathuranga, Mekalanka Pramoda, Shanaka Kumara.

Trinity - Murad Ramzeen (Captain) Ravi Bandara , Inzamam Mubarak, Sachinthake Perera, Randika Alwis, Uchintha Weerakoon, Savinda Unamboowe, Sean Foster, Sanjaya Somasiri and Rehan Weerakoon, Mohamed Seshan, Dilshan Kelaniyangoda, Kenil Seneviratne, Thisila Karunatilleke, Dinuck Nayakaratne. 

Referee: Irshad Cader 

Friday 30th September, 2011 - Daily news

Isipathana - Trinity in blockbuster finale today

All roads will lead to the Royal Sports Complex ground at Reid Avenue as titans Isipathana and Trinity clash in the final of the Milo Under 20 inter-schools rugby knockout tournament scheduled to be kicked off at 4.45 p.m. today. 

The battle is no doubt going to be a blockbuster with the two teams looking forward to end their schools rugby season on a winning note. Trinity will be coming into the game to avenge their 23-18 defeat to Isipathana in the league tournament match played at Pallekele. 

Isipathana seems to be in peak form at the moment. It is going to be a daunting task for the Trinitians who will have to put in an improved performance if they are to overcome the Havelock Park boys.

It’s going to be a battle between the speed of Isipathana and the mobile Trinity forwards. Isipathana will be at a big disadvantage as they would not have the services of prop forward Nipuna Devinda.

Nipuna according to sources met with a tragic accident when returning after a practice session. The burly youngster had been knocked down by a train and was lucky to escape with a shoulder and leg injury. He is at present undergoing treatment at the Kalubowila hospital and has been completely ruled out and his place will be taken by Udayakumara. 

For Trinity the game is going to be important as this is the first time that they have qualified for the President’s Trophy knockout final. They will go all out to make it a memorable one. Isipathana on the other hand have won the knockout title on so many occasions. 

The green jerseys last won the knockout title in 2001 and prior to that they won it in 1996, 1997 and 1999.

Nevertheless with the two teams expected to dish out rugby of a high standard the supporters of the two teams can expect their money’s worth and a fitting finale to the inter-schools rugby season of 2011.

The teams

Isipathana – Udayakumara, Prabath Madusanka, Thusitha Mithraratne, Arun Kumara, Gamindu Weerasinghe, Wasula Wimalaweera, Sajid Suhaib, Kavindu de Costa, Prasad Devinda (Capt), Shenal Dias, Shamal Chathuranga, Ashan Gallage, Mekalanka Pramoda, Shanaka Kumara, Sudeera Karunaratne, Tharindu Dissanayake, T. de Silva, T. Premaratne, Yadala Siriwardena, Malik Jumat, R. Manchana, Hirantha Perera, Usitha Prematileke, T. Hewage, Bhanuka Sarathchandra. 

Trinity – Inzamam Mubarak, Kevin Bandara, Murad Ramzeen (Capt), Hasitha Perera, Randika Alwis, Uchitha Weerakoon, Savinda Unamboowe, Sean Foster, Sanjaya Somasiri, Rehan Weerakoon, Kanil Seneviratne, Sashan Mohamed, K. Perera, Dilshan Kelaniyagoda, Thisila Karunatileke, Dinuk Nayakaratne, Anuradha Karunatileke, Thimira Galappaththige, I. Shehan, A. Perera, H. Badul, Kanishka Yatawara, Haliq Wadood, T. Ratwatte, M. Hettiarachchi, S. Singalaxshana and S. Sheik.

Friday 30th September, - Daily mirror

Rampant Isipathana run riot

President Trophy Semi Finals - Isipathana vs Kingswood

On a day three pointers were wiped out of the scorecard, Isipathana College romped home to a comprehensive 47-0 win over Kingswood College in the first semi final of the President’s Trophy knockout tournament at Royal Complex, Colombo yesterday.

It wasn’t a tale of domination either from Isipathana but they were deadly near the final couple of furlongs. Kingswood invited trouble making mistakes from the start, be it passing errors, constant bungled lineouts or sloppy offloads and will leave Colombo a dejected outfit.

Sajid Suhaib set the early tone which rocked Kingswood and they never recovered. After a lengthy spell where Isipathana monopolized possession, if not for a fumble near the try line by their winger in the 16th minute, it could have got worse, but the respite was over when skipper Prasad Devinda took matters into his own hands four minutes later and went over like the Kingswood defense never existed. Fullback Chanaka Kumara-who had near perfect afternoon with his boots- rifled his kick between the sticks to increase the points cushion to 14.

If one thought that would have calmed Isipathana down, they were way off target with mind reading as immediately after the kickoff, three slick offloads before contact meant they had run the entire 50 metres for Fernando to barge over near the corner flag and the resulting kick, the singular one which went astray spoiled Kumara’s heroics. Then Kingswood began to move the ball tidily for 10 minutes only to be neutralized near the try line every time and that period was the only timeframe which resembled friendliness from Isipathana and failure to convert it into points meant the door was shut for any comeback.

In the 34th minute forward Nipuna Devinda reiterated dynamism which flows in their veins by crashing through amid four defenders to increase the deficit to 26 and just before the halftime a failed clearance was successfully chased down by Isipathana centre Ashan Gallage and the rebound fatally for Kingswood fell into the lap of flanker Kumendra Dharmadasa and there was no guessing what was next.

33-0 up and the game seemingly in the pocket, Isipathana’s approach resembled a kind heart for Kingswood as they let the game flow without any shenanigans. Meanwhile Kingswood repeatedly gave the ball away in lineouts and their No 8 was repeatedly penalized for foul play. In the 54th minute, Isipathana mobility spread like a Hollywood gossip again and Prasad Madusanka made it 38-0 in which Kumara was again on target in the conversion.

Referee D.Nimal’s relaxed afternoon got bit busier as one player from each team was yellow carded and with 20 minutes gone Isipathana was already fielding their reserves with the game done and dusted. In the dying seconds with Kingswood desperate for the final whistle it seemed they conspired to let Madusanka over again such was dreadful and miserable evening they endured.

Before the match Isipathana coach Viraj Prasanna was adamant they’ll come out victorious and when the sun disappeared at Royal Complex his players had done everything make his prediction a reality.

Saturday 24th September, 2011 - The Island

Pathana storms in to the KO finals

Isipathana College took on Kingswood College in their knock out semi final clash at the Royal College sports complex today with the Greens winning the game contentedly 47 points to nil.
 
Half time score: 33-00 Isipathana
Full time score: 47-00 Isipathana

The game was going to be a close one from the outset but the Pathanians had other ideas scoring in the very first minute of the game through their full back Shanaka Kumara. Kingswood failed to clear their lines during the first phase of the game and it resulted in Isipathana skipper charging down fly half Oshan Perera’s kick for Chamara Kumara to score.

Kingswood hardly had possession and when they did they looked out of sorts kicking aimlessly in to the Pathana half. Isipathana prop forward Nipuna Devinda was yellow carded for stamping on a Kingswoodian and was sent off to the cooler for 10 minutes resulting in Isipathana being reduced to 14 players. The speedsters from Havelock’s had many scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise due to crucial handling errors. The Greens skipper then went over for a try after spotting a gap off a scrum where he danced his way over the line beating a few defenders. He had a commendable outing and was well supported by the likes of outside center Ashan Gallage, inside center Shamal Chathuranga, full back Shanaka Kumara and winger Makalanda Prabodha.

Then came the try of the match from the Pathanians right from the restart when first inside Shamal Chathuranga went over for his first. It was a slick move from the Pathana team when their skipper spotted a gap on the blind side and passed to his deputy Sajid Suhaib, who committed the defender and offloaded to Makalanda Prabodha who ran nearly 50 meters before offloading to Shamal Chathuranga to add the finishing touches. Full back Shanaka Kumara failed with the conversion and Isipathana took a commanding 19-00 lead.

Isipathana then decided to use their forwards near the try line and was rewarded when the big framed Nipuna Devinda bulldozed over for his first try after coming back from the sin bin. Kumara with a superb conversion extended the lead to 26-0. Just before the half time whistle the Pathanians managed to score through their open side flanker Umendra Gunadasa while Kumara added the extra points. Half time score 33-00 to Pathana.

The second half saw both teams going at each other but failing to convert it into points. For Kingswood Mohomed Nazri played a good game while the Perera twins, Oshan and Lavanga failed to live up to expectations. Heshan Kalhara playing at number 8 was well marked by the Isipathana third row led by deputy skipper Sajid Suhaib.

Isipathana was on the scoreboard yet again through their compact front rower Prasad Madushanka who went over for a try after a series of pick and goes. With the conversion through Isipathana stood at 40 points to nil.

During the final stages of the game the Kingswoodians began to look frustrated and it was evident when fly half Oshan Perera made a dangerous tackle on replacement 2nd rower Wasula Wimalaweera. Perera was only given a yellow card by referee D. Nimal and was lucky not to get a red. With the clock running out the Pathanians made the finishing touches to the game with a try through their hooker Prasad Madushanka who went over for his second try of the game.

Friday 23th September, 2011 - The Papare

Isipathana and Kingswood’s step towards one-upmanship

 After 15 years of existence, Isipathana and Kingswood both have four President’s trophies each to brag about and the 1st semi final of this year’s tournament today at Royal Complex shall be a critical milepost for whoever is willing to take a focused turn at usurping their opponent of the even pedestal they presently live.

Isipathana could be more ravenous since their final nexus with the knockout trophy was way back in 2001 and since their withering; Kingswood and St.Peter’s have pressingly accumulated three titles on the trot. With St.Peter’s having jolted their path into the semi finals with a hard fought victory over Science, increasingly the odds favour for a five time champion although Trinity might disagree.

Kingswood’s plain sailing against St.Anthony’s may be the cushion they needed to stir up their spirits and the two Perera’s –Oshan and Lavanga- will be ready to unleash their fury. Their form has stuttered during the year, but a straight shootout is an ideal place to spring back to life.

Coach Nalaka Weerakkody was safe in his assessment but was ensured they’ll leave everything on the field. "St.Anthony’s game was a nice start to us, but that’s gone. This is a new match and we’ll see." Asked whether a 5th title was high on the agenda, Weerakkody was quick to reiterate that they’ll plan game by game. "We don’t want to put undue pressure onto ourselves. Before the final we have a major trap to escape in Isipathana. Let’s talk about the final if we qualify."

Isipathana, fresh off their most fruitful league season after a long time will be itching to strike gold when the iron is hot. If not for a cruel penalty kick which went astray in the match against eventual champions Royal, the last rites could have been so different, but as it unfolded a meagre point is what separated the two sides. Devinda Prasad, the fly half and the captain, has been in first class form all over the season and his playmaking expertise could be one aspect Kingswood should watch out for. Sajid Suhaib is as versatile as he is stylish and the tackles he has orchestrated has allowed Isipathana to block others scorecard from moving.

Speaking to ‘The Island’ coach Viraj Prasanna was point blank in that Isipathana is going to come out victorious. "Their side is a good side, but we are a better side. The match is going to competitive, it always is when you face Kingswood, but I’m very confident that we can pull this off." Isipathana didn’t have the luxury of a quarter final as they were awarded a walkover, but Prasanna was confident that it won’t be an issue to write home about. "No, I don’t think it’ll have any harmful effect. We played a friendly match against Army B that day." And Isipathana coach mentioned the necessity of drug tests before the match too. "I have asked our committee to do tests on all my players. That’s a step everyone should take I feel in these times, "he said.

If confidence is the material, Isipathana have already won this game and they’ll step in to Royal Sports Complex as the favourites, but as sporting history suggests, making pre-conclusions are shallow and Kingswood could have something up their sleeve. Last time these two teams got together it ended in a nervous 10-5 triumph for Isipathana. Both possess strong backlines and whoever guards better will have gone a long way for the final.

Squads-

Isipathana- Nipuna Devinda, Prasad Madusanka, Thusitha Yasodha, Arun Kumar, Ganindu Lakshan, Wasala Wimalaweera, Kumendra Dharmadasa, Sajid Suhaib, Kavindu Costa, Prasad Devinda (captain), Shenal Dias, Shamal Chathuranga, Ashan Gallage, Mekalanka Pramod, Chanaka Kumara. Reserves- Udaya Kumara, Danuka Dissanayake, Shenal Deelaka, Hastha Udyoga, Sudeera Shamantha, Pabasara Madhawa, Malin Jumadh, Hirantha Perera, Uditha Premathilake, Panchama Chanaka.

Kingswood- Chamila Abeygunaratne, I C Samarakoon, S R Fernando, R R Premathilake, S Vithanage, N N Jayasinghe, U K Ariyaratne, Kalhara Silva, A Borhan, Lavanga Perera, Mohammad Nazri, H M Bandara, Oshan Perera, K P Piyasena, Thilina Weerasinghe. Reserves- K T Herath, R D Ilangangedara, A Medagedara, I C Kumara, K P Chathunga, K M Perera, N L Chathuranga, G H Piyumal, Buwanaka Wijebandara, S U Karunaratne. 

Friday 23rd September, 2011 - The Island

Top four battle for schools stardom

Pathana Kingswood in grudge battle 

The interschool knock out tournament semi final matches will take place this weekend with Kingswood taking on Isipathana and Trinity going against St. Peters.

Isipathana and Kingswood who are known to have some of the best three-quarter lines in the Island will face off in a tight contest in the first semi-final of the schools knock out tournament.

Match facts

Date: 23^rd Friday

Venue: Royal Complex

Kickoff: 4:45 pm

Big picture

Isipathana edged out Kingswood in the league match with a 10-5 win at the Bogambara Stadium a few months back and are in course for a repeat during their clash on Friday at the Royal Complex. Isipathana the more rounded team out of the two will be led by their inspirational number 10 Prasad Devinda while the Kingswoodians will be taken out on to the field by their hard working third row forward Jananath Dharmawardene.

For Isipathana it has been all about their speed and quick acceleration around the park. Blessed with some of the best three-quarters and complimented by a talented 3rd row the Pathana team looks the stronger out of the two. With 3 Sri Lanka U-19 players in their ranks Isipathana have one of the most experienced sides going in to this encounter and looks to be one of the front runners to clinch the title.

The Kingswoodians who did not live up to expectations in the league tournament will have a bone to pick with the greens come this Saturday. Skipper Dharmawardene and Kandy SC players Heshan Kalhara and the Perera twins Oshan and Lavanga have been their main players this season.
The team which scores first will have a huge advantage during the semi finals. Both teams are said to be going at full strength and will no doubt be a cracker on display.

Friday 23rd September, 2011 - thepapare

President's Trophy Rugby Tournament

The glamour boys of schools rugby Isipathana College will start as the favourites to clinch the coveted President’s Trophy when the annual Milo Schools Under-20 Knockout Rugby tournament gets underway at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue next Sunday.

The quarterfinals will be worked off on September 18 and 19 with the semi-finals scheduled for September 23 and 24. The final will be played on September 30.

With the league champions Royal College opting out from this year’s tournament the cynosure of all eyes will be on Isipathana College seeded number one for the quarterfinals.

Isipathana College will receive a bye into the semi-finals as only seven teams have confirmed their participation in this event. St. Joseph’s, St. Anthony’s, Wesley and S. Thomas’ are the other teams who have made themselves unavailable for this tournament.

Isipathana of course narrowly missed out the Singer Inter-School Division One League title emerging runners-up having recorded ten victories beating, St. Anthony’s (31-3), Dharmaraja (37-15), Science College (23-17), St. Joseph’s (29-23), Wesley (46-3), S. Thomas’ (77-3), Trinity (23-18), St. Peter’s (42-29), Kingswood (10-5) and traditional rivals Thurstan (70-6).

Isipathana’s only setback this year was their close 10-11 defeat at the hands of the ultimate league champions Royal College. Now, after a break of more than one month they will be back on the field determined to make amends and conclude this season on a high note.

In fact, Isipathana have always performed well in the knockout tournaments because they seem to play their best rugby during the latter stages of the season. They were the runners-up for three successive years in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.

In this year’s league tournament they figured in some close encounters and as a result they failed to obtain the extra bonus points which certainly turned out to be crucial at the end.

But the knockout tournament has helped Isipathana College produce their best in the recent past and this time too they will be hoping that they could come out with an exceptional performance to win the President’s Trophy.

Isipatana’s main rivals this time will be Trinity College Kandy and St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya who finished third and fourth respectively in the league points table.

In fact both Trinity and St. Peter’s will have a point to prove when the tournament begins having experienced mixed fortunes during the league championship.

The Trinitians of course made a wonderful start to the season when they annihilated S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia by 75 points to 6 points in a completely one-sided contest.

They made steady progress from there onwards and went on to beat St. Anthony’s (10-3), Kingswood (41-0), St. Joseph’s (38-10), Wesley (48-13), St. Peter’s (34-10), Thurstan (41-3) and Dharmaraja.

But more than their performances in the league tournament Trinity College will be quite satisfied with the manner they regained the prestigious ‘Bradby Shield’ against their traditional rivals Royal College.

In Kandy they went down fighting in the first leg 25-33 before staging a remarkable comeback to take the return fixture by a record margin of 40-5 at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue.

In between Trinity College also went down by a five-point margin (18-23) against their arch rivals Isipathana College. Overall it has been a mixed bag for Trinity College who will be hoping to make a huge impact in the President’s Trophy Knockout Tournament.

Meanwhile St. Peter’s College will be hoping for an improved performance when they begin their campaign for the President’s Trophy. The former champions completely fell apart during the latter stages of the league tournament following a couple of shock defeats.

The Peterites failed to maintain the same momentum as they went down badly in some of their key matches against Trinity ((10-34), Isipathana (29-42), Royal (41-50) and Kingswood (13-17).

Until then St. Peter’s College looked in a good frame of mind as they made a positive start to the season in their attempt to retain the league title for the second successive year.

They certainly enjoyed the early part of the season after having pulled off some big victories against Science College (48-7), Thurstan (61-6), Dharmaraja (54-5), Wesley (62-7), St. Anthony’s (42-10), St. Joseph’s (23-17) and S. Thomas’ (59-7).

No doubt St. Peter’s College is packed with a number of outstanding players and a couple of national youth caps but they will need to realise that individual brilliance alone will not help their cause and should be able to concentrate on a combined team effort.

But the team which is most likely to turn things around will be Science Colleg, Mount Lavinia who has got another great opportunity to leave their mark before the conclusion of the current inter-school rugby season.

In fact Science College emerged as the most unpredictable team in the league tournament where they had the distinction of overcoming a couple of fancied teams including a historic 12-11 triumph against Trinity College.

They never looked back from there and went on to beat Kingswood (20-17), Thurstan (30-15), Wesley (17-5) and S. Thomas’ (31-0) before going down fighting against the ultimate league champions Royal by a three-point margin (15-18),

Their rise to the top division has been purely due to hard work and commitment where they have concentrated a lot on the basics and finer points under the guidance of Coach Mothilal Jayatilleke.

A vital factor in their success this season has been the fitness level of the players having trained hard to absorb the pressure from the opposition especially during the latter stages of the game.

This was a key area for their success in both matches against Trinity College and Kingswood College where Science College were able to keep their cool and come out victorious despite the huge challenge from the opposition.

The President’s trophy quarterfinal draw

September 18: Isipathana bye
Kingswood v Science
September 19: St. Peter’s v Dharmaraja
Trinity v Thurstan

September 23: 1st semifinal
September 24: 2nd semifinal
September 30: Final

Sunday 11th  September, 2011 - The Nation