Sports
Green Machine dismantled by Bamba Brigade
By Nimal Luxshman
Saturday afternoon drew a mammoth crowd to the St Peter’s College grounds, Bambalapitiya, to witness the battle between St. Peter’s College (SPC) popularly known as the ‘Bamba Brigade’ and Isipatana College (IC), tagged the ‘Green Machine’. The match was played to decide the winners of the inter schools’ rugby league champions for 2023 season. This crowd may have been the biggest ever seen at a rugby encounter played this season by two schools.
It did not take more than five minutes for the scoreboard to start ticking, when Yuneth Shihara, the SPC centre, scoring the first try of the match on the right flank and converting it himself to give SPC a 7-0 lead. Soon afterwards, Ishanka Abeykoon, who was in charge of the whistle, warned Chamindu Chirath, the Isipatana centre, for unfair play and sent the latter to the ‘SinBin’.
Around two minutes later the SPC hooker Wishmika was seen lifting Rinesh Silva of IC above his head and dashing him on the ground. When the entire crowd thought it should have ended up in a ‘Red Card’ for dangerous play, Irshad Carder, the Television Match Official (TMO) thought otherwise and decided on a Yellow Card on Wishmika and a penalty for IC. Some spectators felt that the Referee himself could have taken the decision as it happened near him mid field. The only question would have been to decide on the colour of the card, whether yellow or red.
IC reduced the lead to 7-3 when Rinesh Silva converted a penalty for them when a SPC player was spotted off-side.
Place kickers of both teams kicked astray a penalty each within the next couple of minutes, but the kick attempted by the SPC player was the more difficult one from 45 meters out.
Halfway during the first half a line out won by the SPC ended near the IC territory, just five meters out. Though IC may have expected their opponents to engage in a ‘rolling maul’, they were surprised when the ball was taken from the front and two SPC players running along the touch line for SPC No: 8 to score on the left flank. The Assistant Referee, though he may not have seen planting the ball, informed the Referee it was a try. Referee then consulted the TMO to ascertain whether the ball had been grounded properly or not and the latter confirmed it was in order. With this unconverted try, SPC increased their lead to 12-3.
Once again IC were penalised when Rinesh Silva was spotted holding on to the ball. The penalty was converted and the lead of SPC increased again to 15-3.
The best try of the game was seen just before half time when Rinesh Silva of IC collected a backhand pass by Shaahid Zumri and made a jinking run, past a host of baffled defenders, to score by the right goalpost. He converted it himself to relieve pressure on his team by reducing the lead to 15-10 at the “lemons”.
The SPC lead increased once again when a misdirected goal line drop-out by the IC skipper Naveen Kanishka ended up in the hands of SPC players who scored far right. The Referee once again sought the assistance of the TMO to check whether the ball had been grounded properly by SPC’s Dineth Ranasinghe. With that try being confirmed and the conversion going astray, SPC led 20-10.
The play was held up for a couple of minutes soon afterward when the match officials decided that the crowd was too close to the touchline on the opposite side of the main pavilion.
When play resumed SPC’s Ranasinghe was sent to the ‘Sin Bin’ for a deliberate knock on. IC opted to kick to touch and during the ensuing line out won the ball. The IC forwards, after several ‘Pick and go’ attempts, managed to score with Damhiru Rajapakse going over the line. Rinesh Silva converted it to reduce the score to 20-17 for his team to come back to the game, with 10 minutes of play still remaining.
However, SPC who excelled in everything they did, especially in rucking and support play during the match, increased their lead to 25-17again,when Kushal Tharindu scored a try, which went unconverted. The Bamba Brigade did not try any fancy stuff but stuck to basic conventional rugby, in comparison to the Green Machine who decided to run with the ball even within their own territory, quite dangerously.
With 10 minutes play remaining IC did the mistake of not clearing the ball from their own territory and ended up giving away another simple penalty to the opponents, who once again stretched their lead to 28-17 when Kushan Tharindu converted it.
Overall, the day belonged to the ‘Bamba Brigade’ who had been put through their paces by their head coach Sanath Martis, reputed to be a shrewd tactician in school rugby. During the second half his instructions may have been to maintain the lead by kicking deep into the opponent’s territory. His charges were seen executing his plan extremely well and gaining territory by kicking the ball from their own 50 meters to the opponents’ 22 meters. They were successful on three occasions and won lineouts in the IC territory. They dictated terms to the opponents and had absolute dominance of the game. The way they played could be rated flawless, when compared with the opponents who kicked aimlessly at inappropriate moments, in addition to dishing out erratic passes on several occasions.
The ‘Bamba Brigade’ thereby won the league championship after 13 years, remaining unbeaten throughout the season. They began with a win against Royal in their first outing of the season and put the icing on the cake by dismantling the Green Machine on their home soil in their last game yesterday.
A few comments seem necessary regarding the poor crowd handling by the organizers of SPC who hosted this game. Most of the spectators who had bought their tickets in advance found it extremely difficult to gain entrance to the ground as there was only one queue for ticket holders as well as those who did not possess tickets. Once a section of the crowd who had tickets had barged in causing a stampede. In a crunch game like this, the organisers should have had a separate queue for those who had purchased tickets. Large crowds unable to get into the ground caused huge traffic congestion near the Wellawatte Canal end of the Duplication Road. Thanks to the Police who ordered the gates to be opened a second stampede was avoided and the free flow of traffic ensured, bringing much relief to those commuting in buses, who had been thoroughly inconvenienced by the delays in traffic movement.
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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