Unbeaten Isipathana in line for grand rugby double

The reigning ‘A’ Division League champions Isipathana College have started their campaign for the President’s Trophy Under-20 Knock-Out Rugby Tournament in a spectacular manner.

Last week, they produced another outstanding performance in their attempt to complete a grand double this season while outplaying Dharmaraja College 38-6 in the first quarter-final encounter played at Havelock Park.

The significant feature in Isipathana’s success was that they were able to continue with the same momentum, which they displayed during the League phase and Super Round stage as they extended their winning streak to eight matches in the current season.

The other factor is that Isipathana always play to their strength, and they proved it once again by running down six magnificent tries during a complete dominance of fast open rugby.

This time they even had some time to test their bench strength as they brought in some of their genuine replacements during the second half, which proved to be highly successful.

One of those replacements were the promising Mesanda Rashminda, who simply grabbed the opportunity with both hands to score Isipathana’s last two tries during the final 20 minutes of the game.

S. Thomas’ vs Vidyartha

S. Thomas’ College cleared their initial hurdle in their attempt to regain the President’s Trophy with a morale boosting 35-19 victory over the giant killers Vidyartha College in their quarter-final encounter played at Havelock Park.

The Thomians have now extended their winning streak to four matches this season and they have certainly improved tremendously to emerge as one of the strong contenders for the knock-out title.

They were almost down and out at the beginning of the season after having suffered three successive morale shattering defeats at the hands of Trinity College (13-20), St. Joseph’s College (28-30) and Royal College (8-20) respectively.

But the Thomians have bounced back in style and they have proved that they have the talent and the potential to make an impact at least during the latter part of the current season.

Vidyartha, of course, came into this game at the background of some outstanding performances in the League Tournament where they were able to secure the third place while narrowly missing out the chance of competing in the elusive Super Round stage. However, the Thomians simply proved their all-round superiority on this day and ran down three early tries during a dominant first half to put the issue beyond doubt. The significant feature in this performance of S. Thomas’ was the outstanding form displayed by all their key players with Yehan Bulathsinhalage keeping his reputation as one of the finest place kickers this season.

Wesley vs Science

The 2019 President’s Trophy runners-up Wesley College went through some anxious moments before they found their touch during the second half to overcome the unpredictable Science College outfit 38-0 in their quarter-final fixture played at Havelock Park.

Even then, this game looked set for a thrilling end at one stage after Science College put in a tremendous performance to restrict their more fancied opponents to a solitary try in the first half and missed out two vital penalties.

However, the Wesleyites got their act together well in the second half and completely outplayed their opponents before cruising to a more convincing victory in the end.

St. Joseph’s vs St. Anthony’s

St. Joseph’s College made another fine impact as they booked their semi-final spot with a convincing 34-14 victory over St. Anthony’s College in their quarter-final encounter played at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue.

The ‘A’ Division League Tournament runners-up made their intentions quite clear from the kick-off and planted four tries during a scintillating first half to lay the platform for a rousing victory.

The Josephians were kept rather quiet and managed to score only a solitary try in the second half but that was good enough for them to maintain a clear lead over their opponents and reach the last four of the President’s Trophy.