Sports
A benchmark in rugby coaching and a trophy for Petes
By A Special Sports Correspondent
St. Peter’s College made amends for the restricted season in 2022 by bagging the 2023 Dialog-sponsored Inter-school Under 19 Fifteen-a-side League Rugby Tournament under the captaincy of Ashain Madugasge and the coaching of Sanath Martis. The Peterites, before this present winning spree, bagged the league tournament way back in 2010 under skipper Keith Gurusinghe. That year too, the Peterites were coached by Martis.
Last year the school from Bambalapitiya was penalised for fielding an ineligible player, but all that was sent into oblivion when they came back fighting and with a purpose this season to bag the all-important Dialog sponsored league plum with a smashing 28-17 win over Isipatana in a deciding game which was played at their own den on August 19 (Saturday). The game was deciding for St. Peter’s and not for Isipatana because Royal was the second-best side carrying both potential and accumulated points to finish as runners-up even before they kicked off their final game against St. Anthony’s. This game, played in Kandy, eventually went in favour of the boys from Reid Avenue. Isipatana finished third followed by St. Anthony’s Katugastota, which can take a bow for securing a top four finish this season.
The Peterites never created that hype to be title contenders despite an early season shocker in their maiden game for 2023 where they made Royal eat humble pie. Schools like Royal, Trinity and Isipatana saw their fixtures being lined up in such a manner that they were more in the limelight than St. Peter’s. The manner in which Royal and Trinity got mileage for their Bradby Shield encounter and the way in which the media hounded these two schools put the rest of the teams in the competition in a position of being less noticed. Isipatana could be an exception to this thinking, but the crowds that were present at Pallakele for the first leg of the Bradby Shield and for the return leg at Royal Sports Complex this year can dwarf the spectator presence at other important matches this season.
Veteran coach Sanath Martis is a person who is obsessed with result-oriented coaching and helped St. Peter’s strike gold this season. (Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
But the Peterites pegged on during the season securing wins over Dharmaraja (34-7), Trinity (22-10), Zahira (56-7), Science (29-0), Vidyartha (66-10) before smashing the daylights out of St. Anthony’s (39-0) in the first Super Round fixture and later downing Isipatana. Apart from Martis being present on the field in his ‘ship captain’ like style mention must be made of assistant coaches Rajiv Perera and Banuka Nanayakkara for their contributions to the side. Skipper Madugasge will be remembered for leading this champion side which had in their ranks solid players in the likes of Vindya de Mel, Kushan Tharindu, Sudesh Jayawickreme, Dineth Ranasinghe and Yumeth Shihara to name a few.
Royal playing under lock forward Randul Senanayake did well to finish second in the points table. They were coached this season by Dushanth Lewke. Isipatana might not like the manner in which they finished the season because this was a side to watch this year with some incredible players in their ranks in the likes of skipper Nawin Kanishka, Shehandu de Costa, Shahid Zumri, Kalindu Silva, Heshan Randimal, T. Ranaweera, Chamindu Chirath and playmaker Rinesh Silva, who finished the season as the highest points scorer (89).
If one considers the coaches employed this season Martis once again underscored that little valued saying ‘old is gold’. This is an era where the young coaches in rugby are considered ‘laptop coaches’ and are hunting for strategies and information on the internet 24×7. If one takes coaches like Nawaz (S. Thomas’), Fazil Marija (Trinity), Srinath Sooriyabandara (St. Anthony’s ), Lewke and Saliya Kumara (Isipatana) they have played this game at a much higher level than Martis and have age and technology on their side. But this veteran coach marshaled his team in a manner that they maintained consistency and made it to a podium finish. This coaching maestro showed the younger rugby coaches that he still has it in him to see a side through a season and take his chargers to safe port when the season concludes.
This writer remembers the character ‘the old fisherman’ in Ernest Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning book ‘the old man and the sea’-first published in 1952 in England. The old man in that book makes one last voyage into the sea and makes a prized catch, but is defeated by the sharks out in the waters. The old man is obsessed with the word ‘luck’ and sees luck eluding him as the curtains come down on his career as a fisherman. Maybe Martis has a few more years to engage in coaching in a manner that people and players around him feel his presence. He can still make the opposite teams shake from their foundations with the way he thinks, coaches and produces results. He could still be the person out there who can set the benchmark for coaches who have made coaching their profession. He will bid adieu one day which is not far away in the future. And when he does he will make people ask “what will life be for Martis when he moves away from the oval-shaped ball, the green grassy fields and children who play rugby union”. This writer asks this question instead, ‘what would rugby coaching in Sri Lanka be without Martis’?
91st Battle of the Saints
St. Joseph’s hold the edge when they meet arch rivals St. Peter’s in the 91st Battle of the Saints’ big match starting today. After having beaten Petes by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final at Polonnaruwa the Joes arive at the SSC ground to prove that the victory registered two months ago was not a fluke.
St. Joseph’s captained by wicketkeeper batsman Kenath Liyanage are concluding a successful season after having remained unbeaten until they were eliminated in the semi-final by St. Sebastian’s .
A strong batting lineup and a dynamic spin department are making them a formidable outfit.
Experienced campaigner Yenula Dewthusa and Demion de Silva with their left-arm spin and Aveesha Samash and Nushan Perera with off spin provide the Joes variety in the spin department. Dewthusa, Demion de Silva and Nushan Perera are their leading wicket takers. Spinners doing well at schools matches have not been effective at the SSC during the last few big matches. It will be interesting to watch as to how the spinners in these two teams would fare during the three days.
For pace the Joes will look to Maanasa Madubashana and Dunick Perera who are expected to share the new ball.
Abishek Jayaweera and Aveesha Samash will open batting, while Senuja Wakunugoda, skipper Liyanage, Dewthusa and Rishma Amarasinghe form the rest of the top order batting lineup.
St. Joseph’s registered three outright victories this season (beat St. Servatius’, St. Benedict’s and St. Peter’s) and remained unbeaten.
St. Peter’s under Oween Salgado’s captaincy did well to reach the business end of the Tier ‘A’ tournament. But the Petes were uncertain of Salgado’s participation in the big match as they were yet to assess his fitness yesterday morning. He was wounded during a match and the stitched wound had not fully healed according to team sources.
Petes beat Gurukula, St. Aloysius’ and Holy Cross this season. Their only defeat was at the hands of their arch rivals. They will look forward to avenge the defeat at the big match.
The Petes will rely on the likes of Dilana Damsara, Thareen Sanketh, Nathan David and Jason Fernando to take a greater share of batting responsibilities. The middle order batsman Sanketh is their leading batsman and has maintained an average of over 50 runs.
Speedsters Ethan Ransilige and Joshua Sebastian will share new ball duties for the Petes.
Lashmika Perera and Sanketh will share most of the slow ball duties.
St Peter’s are in the possession of the coveted Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy having last won the big match under the captaincy of Vinu Mohotty in 2016.
St. Joseph’s lead the series tally 12-10. They last won under Ruwantha Fernandopulle’s captaincy in 2008.
St. Peter’s College Team
(Seated from left) Harsha Prabath Perera (Asst. Physio/Trainer & Massuer), Thushara Maduhanka (1st XI Asst. Coach),
Nalin Wijesinghe (Head Coach), Priyadarshana Cooray (MIC – Senior & Junior), Oween Salgado (Captain), Rev. Fr.
Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector), Rev. Fr. Praveen Wijesekara (Priest in Charge – Cricket), Lashmika Perera
(Vice Captain), Dilana Damsara, Rohan Fernando (MIC – 2nd XI), Dinuka D. Godakanda (2nd XI Coach).
(Standing 1st row from left) Dinsara Rathnaweera, Dineth de Silva, Tharin Senvidu, Nathan David, Hiruka Silva, Thareen
Sanketh, Virul Amarapala, Yatheendra Jayaweera, Salith Gallage, Raphael Hettige. (Standing 2nd row from left) Jason Fernando,
Joshua Sebastian, Savi Fernnado, Ethan Ransilige, Asadisa De Silva, Sadeesha Kariyawasam, Enosh Peterson
by Reemus Fernando
120th Lovers’ Quarrel
The stakeholders of the Lovers’ Quarrel Big Match were still pursuing to make the historic 120th edition a reality on the eve of the match after Richmond authorities threatened to pull out citing that Mahinda had violated an accepted norm by included a newly recruited player in the big match team.
The historic edition was scheduled to commence as a three day encounter at the Galle International Stadium today. But the match remained doubtful at the time this edition went to press. The officials of both teams were unavailable for comments on the eve of the match. According to sources close to the two teams the joint big match committee was scheduled to meet in the evening yesterday to take a final decision regarding the match.
Richmond threatened to pull out after Mahinda included Charya Paranavithana in their big match team. Paranavithana captained St. Aloysius’ this season. He is not eligible to play matches that come under the purview of Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association as he is yet to be registered as a Mahinda player. Big Matches are not played according to SLSCA rules but Richmond authorities had raised concerns over the player registration citing that the two schools had honoured the norm even at the big match.
According to sources Richmond were threatening to pull out if Paranavithana’s name was included in the playing XI on the match day morning.
Mahinda concluded a highly successful season as the team captained by Kaveen Rukshan earned the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ promotion this year. They were also the joint champions of the Tier ‘B’ tournament with Thurstan. In contrast former Division I champions Richmond had to fight relegation scares. The team captained by Thamindu Pradeeptha later successfully retained their Tier A position by recording an outright victory.
Mahinda College Team
Seated left to right: T.D. Ajantha Kumara (Head Coach), Y. Nishantha Kumara (Master in Charge – Senior), L. P. Weeraman (Deputy Principal –
Sports), Kaveen Rukshan (Captain), Mr. Janaka Peduruheva (Principal), Arosha Udayanga (Vice Captain), Mr. M.W. Ajith (Prefect of Games), Mr.
Jagath Samarakoon (Master in charge – Junior), Mr. Sachith Lakmal (Asst. Coach)
Standing (Middle row) – left to right – Dineth Pahasara, Thiyon Helika, Vinupa Nethmira, Sahanjith Irugalbandara, Dulisth Darshana, Senuka
Dangamuwa, Sadew Nethmina, Manitha Rajapaksha, Vishmitha Sathsara, Charya Paranavithana, Randula Mabarana
Standing (Back row) – left to right – Sajeew Punsara, Sehas Ashinsa, Kaveesha Githmal, Thevindu Rashmika
by Reemus Fernando
CR & FC huffed and puffed before beating Havelocks Sports Club 25-24 in a keenly contested Clifford Cup semi final game worked off in Colombo yesterday before booking their berth in Sunday’s rugby final, scheduled to take place in Kandy.
In Sunday’s final, CR will meet Kandy SC, the winner of the first semi final.
CR dominated the first half, but Havies came from behind in the second half to be in contention of pulling the game off till the last minute. Havelocks’ chances were boosted with two powerful tries coming from Chathura Dilshan late in the second half. But unpardonable mistakes by the men in the pink and chocolate jerseys helped CR to slip away with the game. Havelocks gave away two yellow cards during extra time in the second half.
The winners collected their points through three tries, two conversions and two penalties while Havelocks responded with three converted tries and a penalty. The winners led 15-10 at half time. Referee Raveen Alexander controlled the game.
By A Special Sports Correspondent
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