Gritty Pathana favoured to prevail over Royal

Published : 9:26 am  June 22, 2012 |  No comments so far  |     |   (12)  |  

Isipathana after their resounding win over St. Peter’s last week will no doubt come out favourites to prevail over Royal in their final league match of the Singer Under 20 Division 1A rugby tournament which is due to be played at Longdon Place today with the kick off scheduled at 4.30 p.m.

Isipathana will also be coming into the game with the aim of avenging their defeat of last year which they lost by just one point in a cliff-hanger with the score at 10-11 and to regain the Major Milroy memorial Trophy which has eluded them for sometime.Likewise with only one blemish against Trinity the Isipathanians will be looking forward to end the season on a winning note. Since their defeat by Trinity the Havelock Park boys have been playing with determination and gone from strength to strength which was evident in their game against St. Peter’s and of course they will go into the game with a load of confidence.

Royal on the other hand will be coming into the game to regain their lost prestige after their defeat by traditional rivals Trinity last week. But the biggest problem for them will be that their skipper will not be available.

This will put the Royalists under tremendous pressure and it will no doubt be a rehearsal for their second leg game of the Bradby Shield that they will play next week. In the match against Trinity last week they were nowhere near their true form as they were rattled in all departments.

Even in the game before that against St. Peter’s they were made to work hard for their win which they ultimately achieved. But looking at the present form of the Isipathanians it’s going to be a daunting task for the Royalists to brush aside the gritty Pathananians.

The Isipathanians have recorded massive wins in their recent matches where they outclassed DSS, Vidyartha, Science College and St. Anthony’s with the minimum of fuss while in contrast Royal, in most of their matches, just managed to secure victories.

It has been the sheer determination and combination of the Isipathana team that they have been successful. The players to take note today are Kumendra Dharmasena, Uditha Tilekeratne, Sithum Chathuranga – who scored a hat-trick of tries against St Peter’s, Kavindu de Costa and Hirantha Perera, who has been having a successful season so far.

In the Royal camp they have been plagued with injuries but some of the players on whom they will be depending on will be Eroshan de Alwis, Lahiru Pavithra, Wasim Bawa and Damian Ratwatte.

Nevertheless with the scale being in favour of the Isipathanians who has the opportunity of taking back the Major Milroy Fernando Memorial Trophy the Royalists are not going to be easy meat. As mentioned they will be coming into the game to regain their lost prestige.

By M Shamil Amith