President Trophy Semi Finals - Isipathana vs Kingswood
Saturday 24th September, 2011 - The Island
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
