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by Chris Dhambarage

One of most important inter school rugby matches in the Milo 'A' division league tournament will be the confrontation between Royal and Isipatana schedule for July 5 at the Royal College Sports Complex grounds, Reid Avenue.

The two heavyweights in inter school rugby have figured in some of the fascinating contests in the past since the inaugural match was played in 1965. For the record, Royal have emerged victorious on 13 occasions and Isipatana have won 12 with six matches ending in draws. In fact last year too the two schools figured in a thrilling five all draw which certainly spoiled their chances of winning the Milo 'A' division league title.

The highest score in the series was registered in 1976 with Royal led by Manik Weerakumar outplaying Isipatana by a massive margin of 40 points to 3 at Havelock Park. Isipatana's best performance came in the year 1997 when under the leadership of Vajira Hewage they triumphed by a convincing margin of 30 points to 6 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

The Royal - Isipatana match is also played for the Major Milroy Fernando memorial trophy since 1986. Isipatana had the honour of winning the trophy in the inaugural year scoring a thrilling 11-9 win with full back Thushara Bandara firing across the matchwinning penalty three minutes before the final whistle. In 1987 the trophy was shared between the two schools with the match ending in a 13 all draw at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

In 1988 Royal clinched the trophy with a convincing 24-9 win at Pedris Park helped by a hattrick of tries by burly number eight Lasitha Gunaratne.

In the following year Royal led by centre three quarter Anura Dhammika retained the trophy with a 9-6 win at the Sugathadasa Stadium. However in 1990 Isipatana under the leadership of Miyuru Yuganthara wrested back the trophy with a 10-3 win at Longden Place.

The match did not take place in the following year as Isipatana were out of competitive rugby. In 1992 Isipatana retained the trophy with a 14-3 victory over Royal at Longden Place and in the following year Isipatana made it three in a row with a controversial 12-10 win at the Sugathadasa Stadium. However this match was later declared null and void and a dispute arose between the two schools which resulted in the match not being played in 1994 and 1995.

With saner counsel prevailing in 1996 the match was revived and Isipatana led by Bandula Mallikarachchi emerged victorious by 16 points to 10 at the Sugathadasa Stadium. In the following year Isipatana retained the trophy when Vajira Hewage's team thrashed Royal by 30 points to 6 at the same venue. In 1998 Royal snatched back the trophy with a 14-10 victory with winger Viraj de Silva scoring the matchwinning try during injury time.

In the following year (1999) Isipatana regained the trophy by edging out Royal 10-5 helped by a last minute try from winger Hamesh Gunaratne. In the year 2000 Suranjan Perera's Royalists snatched back the trophy once again with a hard fought 18-14 victory. The Major Milroy Fernando trophy was offered by Colonel Dudley Fernando in memory of his son Milroy who died in a landmine explosion in Omanthai, Vavuniya in January 1986.

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