Isipathana College Continued their winning momentum when they defeated the formidable Trinity College outfit 27 points to 15 in their 2019 Singer Schools Rugby League encounter played Pallekelle earlier today.

Both teams came in to the game after winning their season openers last week as a win in this game was crucial for both outfits as they looked to continue their winning momentum. Chamath Kalhara kick started the proceeding with Isipathana dominating early exchanges and an unfortunate knock on near the try line saved Trinity in the second minute of play.

After missing two scoring opportunities early on, Isipathana finally managed to cross the line when last year’s skipper Manelka Ruberu used his experience when he managed to send his winger Ramitha De Silva over the line with a timely inside pass to open the account for Pathana while Ruberu surprisingly missed the easy conversion.(TCK 00 – 05 IC)

Trinity was dealt with another blow when their winger Amith Kulatunga was sent to the bin for tackling the try scorer Ramitha De Silva in the air as Isipathana continued their dominance and Trinity was not able to launch any attacking moves in the first quarter.

Trinity continued to panic under pressure as their clearing kicks never found touch and Isipathana backs collected a miscued touch finder as the ball spread wide to their outside center Manula Rathnayake, who broke through the Trinity defence and finally he was brought down near the try line by the Trinity fullback while Manelka Ruberu collected the ball from the ruck and powered himself over the line to score the second try for the green machines. (TCK 00 – 10 IC)

Few minutes later Trinity gifted a try for the green machines when a pass from Trevin Karunanayake was intercepted by Manula Rathnayake and he ran a good 50-meter dash to score under the post as Ruberu finally bisected the upright to increase their lead. (TCK 00 – 17 IC)

Trinity struggled throughout the first half but managed to score a stunning counter-attacking try as their winger Geeshapa Kulatunga ran around the Isipathana winger to score the opening try for Trinity near the corner flag just before the half time whistle.

Half Time – Trinity College 05 (1T) – Isipathana College 17 (3T,1C)

Trinity made a promising start to the second half as they managed to sneak through the Pathana defence but was unlucky as the grounding of the ball was not perfect while Isipathana, against the run of play, collected the loose ball from their own try line and Manula Rathnayake ran the length of field to score his second try as Trinity were caught napping as they didn’t play for the referee’s whistle. Ruberu managed to add the extras this time around. (TCK 05 – 24 IC)

Trinity unleashed themselves as they scored two tries in quick succession as their skipper Reshan Bandaranayke went through the Pathana defence and two minutes later the speedster Geeshapa Kulatunga went over to score his second to keep the game alive. unfortunately, Bandaranayake couldn’t convert both tires from similar angles. (TCK 15 – 24 IC)

Trinity comeback hopes were dashed when their scrum half Tehan Karunanayake was caught stamping on the head of Ramitha De Silva as referee Fernando had no option but to show the red card as the player safety is paramount in this game. Pathana missed the kick for the three – pointer but few phases later Ruberu redeemed himself as he slotted in a three-pointer to put the game to bed. (TCK 15 – 24 IC)

Pathana gave a life line for Trinity when Nepul Athukorala was sinned bin for infringement in the breakdown as both teams had to finish the game with fourteen on the park as Isipathana managed to put on a gutsy performance to hold on to their lead and finish victorious at the final whistle.