Pathana crash Royal party on home turf
An Isipathana player valiantly moves ahead despite heavy resistance from Royal - Pic by M.A. Pushpakumara
As befits a confrontation between two well drilled, talented sides, there was plenty of the thrust and parry, attack and counter attack by Royal and Isipathana when they clashed at the Royal Complex.
Isipathana were led 5-14 at the break, but they had much the better of the second half in which they were able to touch down thrice, as opposed to Royal’s solitary penalty. Thus the final scoreline was in favour of Isipathana 22 (1 goal, 3 tries) to 17 (2 goals and a penalty).
Royal were slow off the blocks and Pathana did most of the attacking early on. Full back Chamod Fernando had his hands full, running and kicking. Harith Bandara, that superb scrum half, did the spade work for the first try. Fly half Randy Silva made a long pass and Manilka Sulakshana was able to go over deep left. Pathana had the numbers and Royal was found wanting. This conversion, and the others that ensued in the second half, laid bare Isipathana’s Achilles Heel – the lack of a competent place-kicker.
The Royalists took about ten minutes to retaliate. A good break and a forty yard run by a Royal forward took play to an advantageous position for them. They used their trade-mark rolling maul, before hooker Hamza Reza touched down. Nikhil George’s conversion saw Royal go ahead 7-5.
Pathana came back hard and Royal tended to falter a bit under pressure. Skipper Ovin Ashkey was able to relive the pressure. It was noticeable that his counterpart Sumudu Rankothge was taking on a lott of responsibility in organising the defence.
Sabith Feroze was responsible for a superb break that opened up the Patana defence. Thalib Hassan then took over. He cut through the opposing defenders and went over with a couple of Pathanians hanging onto him. George was on target once more and Royal led 14-5 when the break was signalled.
This was probably the more exciting half as both Royal and Isipathana took it in turns to attack. The defensive skills of both teams were sorely tested, and neither wilted easily.
Isipathana scored as early as the third minute after the break when they made good use of a weak pass. A forward applied the boot for Devin Gunaratne, the number eight, to follow up, brush off a weak tackle by the Royal fullback Deshan Perera and score. Chamod Fernando kicked this one correctly. (14-12).
Pathana gave the Royalists a dose of their own medicine by employing the rolling maul for a short while. Harith Bandara then kicked into a gap in the corner. The line out was won by Pathana who worked the back division. Winger Nadeesha Chaminda fell over for an unconverted try (Pathana 17 Royal 14). Shortly after, Royal got on par by putting over a penalty.
There followed a terrible lapse by Royal’s defence when they allowed the ball to run loose in their twenty two. Skipper Rankothge gathered and forced his way over a try line.
Defensive lapses by Royal’s back division cost them dearly. For Pathana this was a win they badly needed, after losing to the Peterites last weekend.
Probably Pathana had the greater hunger though, at the end, many Royalists were absolutely gutted.
Referee: Rohan Fernando.