|
|
|
| Sunday, 28 August 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Sports |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Isipathana scrape through by Srian Obeyesekere In a season that has seen some of the more elite names in the game, go through in patches, Isipathana scratched and scraped through. The 8 (penalty and try) to 6 (two penalties) win over Royal speaks of the farcical state the game journeyed through dictated more or less by penalties. The beginning at Reid Avenue seemed to be a come around for last week's defeatists as Royal seemed to have pumped in new oxygen into their play. That they scored after fluffing up the first opening for a bull's eye sitter of a penalty perhaps best illustrates the lacklustre type of rugby that dominated the game. Scrum half Sandaruwan having fluffed up the first one, made sure his boot shaped the ball through the post in the second penalty awarded following an infringement into the fourth minute. The next 19 minutes went scoreless in some incohesive rugby by both sides before Royal once again scored through a Sandaruwan penalty in the 24th minute. The forward play of both sides fell short of expectations with neither side able to work the ball of their magic yore. Half time Royal 6; Isipathana - nil. The turn around saw Isipathana miss a penalty in the sixth minute but atone the twelfth minute as place kicker Mohamed Riyaz this time made no mistake. Soon after Isipathana scored again in the eighth minute when Kasun Gamage collected off a short tap almost in the Royal five to touch down. The conversion went astray but Isipathana had surged ahead of Royal 8-6. From there onwards it was a case of both sides kicking to touch with Royal frailing to come good on about two occasions having worked the ball into Isipathana territory. But action frozen as the match turned out to be, for the green shirts from Havelock Park the win broke another trough. For they walked away with the Major Milroy Fernando Trophy after a six year wait as did they extend their winning vein notching the second successive triumph in two weeks in the wake of stopping Trinity last week 6-5. In perspective, as far as the rivalry between these two once elite schools in the game was concerned yesterday at Reied Avenue therefore marked a new moon for the Isipathanians. They were taking home the trophy which the Royalists had retained in successive years both 2003 and 2004. But above all Isipathana with this win Isipathana extended their lead to 8 wins in as against Royal's 6 in a series dating back to 1986 with two draws and it notbeing played for three years in 1991, 1994 and 1995. The triumph also meant redemption in Isipathana's strive to come back to terms with the game after being relegated to Group-B in marching to their fifth win for the season. For Royal, who had sounded signs of coming out of their slumber of last
week when they went down to Ananda it was not to be as once again they had
to be content with defeat in their nostrils when referee Priyantha Gunaratne
blew the long whistle. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
