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

Dinusha Chathuranga Fernando of Navy SC will lead the Sri Lanka team for the Shanghai 7’s 2011

Former Isipathana skipper, Dinusha Chathuranga Fernando of Navy SC will lead the Sri Lanka team for the Shanghai 7’s 2011.

Pool A

Korea, Philipines, UAE

Pool B

Japan, Thailand, Chinese Taipei

Pool C

Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mongolia

Pool D

China, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan



thescore

Isipathana, Trinity and Dharmaraja best bets

U 16 Division I rugby in Kandy
 
Isipathna, Trinity and Dharmaraja looked the best bets for Cup honours at the end of day one of the All Island under 16 Division one rugby tournament held at Bogambara.
Isipathana played with flair and their attacking ploys were successful. Trinity had pace and confidence with approach. The Rajans played a robust and powerful brand of rugby.
It was a pity that despite the best laid out plans of the organizers, one of the best matches – the last one between rivals Trinity and St. Anthony’s – was played in near darkness.
The tournament continues today at 8.45 a.m.
The quarter-final line-ups are as follows:
Cup – St. Peter’s vs D.S Senanayake; Mahanama vs Dharmaraja; Isipathana vs Royal; St. Joseph’s vs Trinity.
Bowl – Kingswood vs Ananda; Science vs St.Sylvester’s; Vidyartha vs Carey; Royal Panadura vs St. Anthony’s.
Shield – Prince of Wales vs Piliyandala Central;Nalanda vs Maliyadeva; St.Benedict’s vs Lalith Athulathmudali; Wesley vs C.W.Kannangara.

Sunday Times

Pathana Rout Kings

After a week’s lapse of schools rugby, title contenders Isipathana met the host Kingswood at the Bogambara stadium on Saturday.
Half time score: 5 nil Isipathana leading



Full time score: 10-5 Isipathana won



Match was much anticipated affair as it went to keeping the Isipathana hopes alive for the title against the table leaders Royal.

Pathana's formidable forwards dominated the game during the first quarter of the, gaining possession and wining opposition line outs. Visitors started brightly enough to score the first try of the game at the 10th minute of the game. It was the first scrum of the match to Kingswood, which was turned around by agile forward Prasad Madushanka scoring an unconverted try.

Half way through the first half the game which was a much contested and volatile affair as both teams were shown yellow cards and the respective players were sent to sin-bin.

It was twisting at both ends of the ground as both teams tried to penetrate through the opponents defense. However Pathana gained the edge as their forwards were fast and mobile and at times it proved too much for Kingswood.

At the end of closely contested 40 minutes of the game score board read 5- nil in favour of Isipathana.

Pathan started the second half by gaining possession through set pieces and dominating line outs and scrums.

It was close affair; however both teams didn't capitalize on the opposition’s mistakes and showcased some poor rugby handling. At the 70th minute with brilliant show of skills Kingswood three quarters made the break through and Kingswood fullback Thilina Weerasinghe scored the try in the left corner. However deciding conversion wasn't successful.

Match was a tough call at this stage; Pathana took it up a notch by trying to penetrate through their opponents defense. Their effort were rewarded with a brilliant move from their number 7 and Sri Lanka youth ace Sajith Suhaib who combined with the winger Uditha who scored a try in the left corner. It was relief and joy for the diehard fans from Colombo although the conversion was not successful.

Kingswood came back with a huge effort at the tail end of the match and came close to the try line but tough defense from the visitors prevented them gaining the upper hand.



The match ended to in favour of Isipathana score board reading 10 points to 5.

www.thepapare.com

Greens take on Kings- Another humdinger!

Isipathana College placed second in the league will take on Kingswood College in another schools fixture match this weekend at Bogambara.

Match facts

Date: 9th July

Venue: Bogambara Stadium Kandy

Time: 04:30pm

Big picture

With the league tournament coming to a close, the Pathanians who have won 8 out of 9 games will take on the 5th placed Kingswoodians in what is tagged as a close contest. Isipathana which boasts of some of the best three-quarters in the schools league will be led by the Sri Lankan youth player Prasad Devinda while the Kingswoodians will be taken on to the field by crack third row forward Jananath Dharmawardene.

The Kingswoodians

The Kingswood team which started off well in the league could not sustain the pressure asserted on them by some of the teams and were at the receiving end against the likes of Trinity, Royal, St. Josephs and Science College.

Their skipper Dharmawardene has been a great motivator and has been playing in both the center position as well as the number eight position for his team. Together with Sri Lanka youth forward Heshan Kalhara the Kings have a solid pack to match up to the dynamic Pathana forwards. The three quarters will be led by two upcoming stars, twins Oshan and Lavanga Perera playing in the fly half and center positions. Both players displayed tremendous skills in the recently concluded junior rugby Asiad with Oshan scoring the opener against Japan and Lavanga scoring a double against a formidable Hong Kong side. Thilina Weerasuriya playing at full back is a brilliant player to watch in open play and he will also have Nazri Mohomed for support who will be playing on the wing.

The Isipathanians

The Greens led by the sparking Devinda Prasad has kept the spectators at the edge of their seats with their free flowing rugby this season. Their forwards though comparatively small made have played with a lot of heart and this has been one of the main reasons for their triumphs this season. The pack which will be led by flank forward Sajid Suhaib another Sri Lankan youth player have dominated most games with their flashy forwards play. The big front row forward cum number eight Nipuna Devinda has been their favoured ball carrier through the season and has had able support from Prasad Madushanka another senior player.

Their three’s who even dominated the fearsome Peters line is led by fly half and skipper Devinda Prasad. Centers Ashan Gallage and Chamal Fernando have been hitting the gaps hard and will try and do the same against the Kingswoodians. Their back three led by Makalanda Prabodha and Shanaka Kumara have been doing the finishing for the Pathanians this season and will try and get around the Kingswood defence this Saturday.

Final verdict

Isipathana certainly will have the edge with their current form but the Kingswoodians after a three week break would have certainly polished their rough ends and will be coming out to beat the Greens. The more experienced set of players from Isipathana have the slight nod ahead of their counterparts going in to battle.

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