Trinity warm-up for Bradby with close win over Isipathana
Isipathana made Trinity fight every inch of the way, but finally what cost them dearly was their inability to make better use of the few chances that came their way. Also a crucial penalty which they didn’t take early in the game could also have led to their undoing. Courage and fighting spirit were there in abundance from Trinity despite their opponents having slightly more possession. Harith Bandara and Chamod Fernando, in particular, played their hearts out for the losers. Prop Aveesha Priyankara and Anuka Boyagoda did likewise for Trinity. The result of all these endeavours was that Trinity was able to beat Isipathana by 15 points (a goal, a try, a penalty) to 10 (2 tries).
The Pathana lads tried to run the ball from their own goal line at the start. Trinity was smart enough to keep them pinned down in the 22, and the upshot of it was that they scored twice in the space of ten minutes. The forwards and backs swept towards the line in a combined move for Priyankara to break the ice. Wijesuriya’s conversion put Trinity ahead. Sabanayake collected a high ball well, but, sadly, lost it. The ball was sent to Reshan Bandaranaike who was able to go over. Wijesuriya missed this conversion (12-0).
It took Isipathana about fifteen minutes to break out of their half. But in the 20th minute Harith Bandara got possession from the back of a lineout and started on a fantastic run. He changed direction thrice and, then ran round the full back for a beautiful try. That he couldn’t put the icing on the cake was a bit of a letdown.
Trinity conceded more penalties but Pathana could not punish them for those. Skipper Rankothge was a marked man and, in consequences, Pathana had developed a stutter. At lemons, it was 12-5 to Trinity.
The second half was, to a certain extent, lacking the excitement of the first. Pathana also had the better of the exchanges and this was reflected in the scores. Pathana had a try while the winners had a penalty.
Lashan Wijesuriya who had some good long kicks in defence, extended Trinity’s lead to 15-5 early on. Pathana now needed two scoring efforts. There was a hint of desperation in their play. A couple of Pathana players started a delightful move, exchanging neat passes and coming forward. Yet Trinity tackled very well and stymied the opponents’ chances of scoring. Chamod Fernando was in the picture in the 28th minute. Fed a pass by Bandara off a scrum, Chamod did a fine side stepping run to go over. He failed to convert and the score stayed at 15-10.
Trinity’s rugby was not all that glamorous. Yet, they needed a win and they made certain they got it by putting up a sturdy defence.
This win shows that the Lions are in a good place for next week’s Bradby, winning, even though you are not at your best, speaks volumes for the team. Naveen Rajaratnam, Amith Kulatunga and Reshan Bandaranaike stood out among Trinity’s back division players.