Isipathana clinch President’s Cup beating Trinity 21-16

Double in a row for Pathanians:

Yasaratne GAMAGE

Isipathana College, Colombo in a thrilling 90 minutes of play defeated Trinity College, Kandy by 21 ( 1goal, 1try and 3penalties ) to 16 ( 2tries and 1 penalty ) in the final of the Milo inter-schools President’s trophy knockout rugby tournament 2012 at Royal Sports Complex yesterday.

With yesterday’s victory Isipathana College remarkably became winners of two trophies this year including the Schools A division League Tournament title which they grabbed few weeks back.

The final was breathtaking from the first minute as both teams desperately seeking for points on the board. Trinity in overall defended well while Isipathana kept on attacking until they grab the trophy after a long time.

Hirantha Perera of Isipathana struck early in the fifth minute with a penalty. Few minutes later Trinitian winger Dharshana Udalagama scored under the post with a magnificent try taking the advantage of a slight mistake by P Ranasinghe of Isipathana to take the lead by 5-3 for Trinity.

In the 10th minute a penalty brought Trinity to eight points with Thisala Karunaratne making no mistake this time. Following a substitution Isipathan's S Chaturange touched down the line and Hirantha made no mistake in adding extra points with the conversion to give Pathanians a two point lead. Isipathana led 10-8

It was Darshan Udalagama of Trinity who crossed over for the second time with an unconverted try and collected five points to regain the lead by half way mark 13-10. In the second half Trinity were attacking dangerously but could not make use of their opponent's missed passes to score. Isipathana re gained the lead with a brilliant try by P Sooriarachchi from far left. Isipathana led 15-13

In the latter stage of the match, the battle became an enthralling one but Hirantha showcased a poor play as he missed back to back two penalties for their enthusiastic fans' dismay. With 8 minutes left Isipathana added another three points with a penalty. In the breathtaking final four minutes Isipathana made no mistake with the seocnd consecutive penalty. Trinity reduced the deficit with a penalty in the next minute but it was Isipathana enjoyed the fire works when the final whistle was blown at 21-16 in favour of Isipathana.