Isipathana dig deep to fend off Mahanama challenge
Knockout champions Isipathana College Colombo made a strong start to their Dialog Schools ‘A’ Division League Rugby Tournament, defeating newcomers Mahanama College Kollupitiya by 34 points (three goals, two tries, one penalty) to 19 (two goals, one try) in a thrilling match played at Havelock Park yesterday after leading 14-12 at the ‘breather’.
The game was a hard-fought battle from the start. Isipathana College, led by Thinethra Dodangoda, held a narrow 14-12 lead at half-time. But it was in the final 20 minutes that the experienced Pathana side showed their class, staging a powerful comeback after briefly trailing in the second half.
Isipathana opened the scoring in the fifth minute when skipper Thinethra Dodangoda touched down for the first try. Thenula de Costa converted successfully to give Pathana a 7-0 lead.
Soon after, a powerful rolling maul by the Pathana forwards saw Thanura Vitharana crash over for the second try in the 9th minute. De Costa was on target again, stretching the lead to 14-0.
Mahanama College, making their debut in Division A, responded bravely. A clever move by N Hapuhinna opened space for skipper K Kannangara, who scored near the left corner flag in the 21st minute. S Ratnayake added the conversion to cut the deficit to 14-7.
Six minutes later, Mahanama’s fullback M Dhanula scored an unconverted try in the same corner after sustained pressure, bringing the score to 14-12.
After the break, Mahanama came out firing. In the 43rd minute, a brilliant run from N Hapuhinna saw him evade the Pathana defence to score near the mid-left. S Ratnayake’s successful conversion put Mahanama ahead 19-14, giving the Pathana supporters a scare.
However, a yellow card to Mahanama’s number eight in the 45th minute shifted the momentum. Pathana’s Thenula de Costa made no mistake with a 20-metre penalty in the 48th minute, reducing the margin to 19-17.
from then on, it was all Pathana. In the 57th minute, towering second-rower Nevith Mewnaka powered over the line. Although the conversion missed, Isipathana regained the lead at 22-19.
Four minutes later, a fast sequence of passes involving Sithupa Bometh, number eight Shaakib Zumri, and skipper Dodangoda putting finishing touches, saw Pathana score their bonus-point try, extending the advantage to 27-19
in the 69th minute, another yellow card to a Mahanama second-rower left them down to 14 men. Though Pathana missed a penalty, they sealed the match in the final minute when hooker Kaveen Jayasinghe finished a superb move. This time, Nimantha Sandeepa added the extra points to make it 34-19 at the final whistle
By – Daily News
𝐈𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐚
