Isipathana edge past brave Zahira 38-27 despite red card
Potential title contenders Isipathana College were made to fight until the last drop by a spirited Zahira College outfit, who went down fighting 38-27 in an eventful and textbook game of Dialog Schools League Rugby 2025 played at Maradana yesterday.
In a game where the Green Machine held the upper hand, despite losing their star prop Kaveen Jayasinghe in the 47th minute for the remainder of the match due to a red card offence, Zahira too displayed their bravery as 11 points eventually separated both teams after an absorbing encounter. Isipathana scored six tries and four conversions, and enjoyed a healthy 26-8 lead at half-time, whilst Zahira accumulated their points from four tries, two conversions and a penalty as both teams earned bonus points.
An evenly poised contest between Isipathana and Zahira was in display at Maradana - Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Zahira stunned Isipathana in the fourth minute when fullback Abdullah Hassan carried the ball to post a brilliant unconverted try on the far left to gain an early 5-0 lead. However, it was short-lived when prop Kaveen Jayasinghe crashed over to give fullback Avishka Hiran an easy conversion in the eighth minute.
Scrum-half Sithupa Bometh made an innovative breakthrough when Zahira were desperately defending their territory in the 11th minute, cleverly breaking away to land an unconverted try as Isipathana expanded their lead to 12-5.
Zahira clearly indicated that they were on a planned mission with prop Tuan Raheem’s penalty kick in the 14th minute that closed the gap to 12-8. However, fly-half Hiran, who had a brilliant day out with a total contribution of 13 points, made himself useful with a try in the 17th minute, which he converted himself to have Isipathana further stretch the lead to 19-8. Centre Adithya Madushan joined the try spree when he crossed through the Zahira defence in the 28th minute to give Hiran an easy conversion opportunity as Isipathana maintained their lead of 26-8 until half-time.
Skipper and fly-half Thinethra Dodangoda further pulled the match away from Zahira’s reach when he scored a brilliant try in the 36th minute after the resumption. With Hiran’s conversion, Isipathana put themselves in an unassailable position at 33-8. However, the undeterred Zahira unit hinted at their true intent when winger Binuk Perera crashed over to score a brilliant diving try on the far left. Perera took the responsibility to convert the try he scored from a challenging angle as Zahira closed the gap to 15-33 in the 42nd minute.
No sooner had Isipathana prop Jayasinghe been shown the red card for a high tackle than Zahira acted swiftly to post a try from a rolling maul with flanker Iyaad Yusuf touching down. With Perera’s conversion, the home team were closing in at 22-33.
Following even exchanges, replacement prop Damsara Witharana made the breakthrough Isipathana were longing for when he crashed over to post an unconverted try in the 58th minute. Zahira centre Zain Zahim returned the favour with an unconverted try in the 62nd minute, as time ran out for the hosts to create inroads to make an upset over the 14-man Isipathana, who kept their unbeaten record intact with a 38-27 victory.