COLOMBO, July 4 (ePRESS) – Isipathana College Colombo turned early fire into full control as they beat S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia 47-26 to regain the Rizwi Suhayb Memorial Trophy in a high-scoring second annual rugby encounter at Havelock Park. The Green Machine hit the ground running, built a convincing 33-19 half-time lead and then held their nerve after a Thomian fightback to finish the job in style.
It was a match where Isipathana’s pace, support play and sharp decision-making made the biggest difference. They attacked with purpose from the first whistle and kept the Thomian defence under heavy pressure. Fullback Nimantha Sandeepa was the early spark, while fly half Thenul de Costa controlled the game well with his boot and passing.
Isipathana opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Sandeepa took a quick tap and crossed over for an unconverted try to give his team a 5-0 lead. Four minutes later, he struck again. After a lineout move, Sandeepa collected a pass from Kenula de Costa and dived over near the left corner flag. Thenul de Costa added the conversion as Isipathana moved ahead 12-0.
The Green Machine continued to turn the screw. In the 16th minute, Thenul de Costa found a gap and sliced through near the left corner for their third try. He converted his own try to stretch the lead to 19-0.
Isipathana’s forwards then joined the party. Prop forward Nevith Mevnaka powered over near the posts in the 22nd minute after a strong pick-and-go move. De Costa added the extras as Isipathana raced to a 26-0 lead.
But the Thomians refused to throw in the towel. Centre Udan Bulathsinhala produced a fine individual run, beating tackles before scoring mid-left in the 25th minute. The conversion was missed, but S. Thomas’ had finally opened their account at 26-5.
The Thomians came again in the 29th minute when flanker Rometh Wijesinghe touched down after a well-worked rolling maul from a set piece. Fly half Mayanka Dias made no mistake with the conversion as S. Thomas’ cut the deficit to 26-12.
Isipathana hit back quickly when winger Thuwan Azeez scored another try, and Thenul de Costa completed the conversion to take the score to 33-12 in the 32nd minute.
At the dying stages of the first half, S. Thomas’ struck again with a converted try, with Mayanka Dias adding the extras, as Isipathana went into the break leading 33-19.
The Thomians came out strongly after the restart and scored a converted try just after resumption to reduce the gap to 33-26. Suddenly, the game had life again and Isipathana were forced to dig deep.
But big teams respond under pressure, and Isipathana did exactly that. In the 43rd minute, prop forward Nevith Mevnaka scored his second try of the match with another powerful effort. Thenul de Costa converted to push Isipathana clear again at 40-26.
That try broke the Thomian momentum. Isipathana then sealed the contest in the 50th minute with another converted try, once again converted by De Costa, as they moved to 47-26.
From there, the Green Machine managed the closing stages with confidence. Their early blitz, strong forward work and accurate goal-kicking proved too much for S. Thomas’, who showed character but could not recover from the heavy early damage.
At the final whistle, Isipathana College celebrated a well-earned 47-26 victory and lifted the Rizwi Suhayb Memorial Trophy for the first time.
Referee: Kelum Sandaruwan.
