Wins for Isipathana, Royal, Trinity and Zahira

 Isipathana's Sanija Jayaweera on a move

Royal second rower, Methuka Wickramaratne on a move

• Thurstan shock Thomians

Isipathana College delivered a commanding performance to outclass St. Anthony’s College 43/14 in their Dialog Schools Under-19 Rugby League clash at Havelock Park yesterday.

The Greens showed their attacking flair and defensive discipline throughout the encounter. Leading 19/7 at halftime, Isipathana steadily built momentum with structured phase play and sharp backline movements. Their forwards laid a solid platform, allowing the backs to exploit gaps and finish clinically. The three-quarter line got in to top gear later in the second half and showed what is to come in the next few games in the League.

St. Anthony’s struggled to contain the relentless pressure, managing only two tries in response. Despite moments of resistance, their defence was repeatedly breached by the well-drilled Isipathana outfit.

In another key fixture, Royal College issued a strong statement with an emphatic 43/10 victory over Science College at the Royal Sports Complex. 

The Reid Avenue side combined power and precision to dominate proceedings. Royal held a narrow 14/10 lead at the break but shifted gears in the second half. Their superior fitness and tactical execution saw them pull away convincingly, underlining their credentials as serious contenders this season.

On Saturday, defending League champions Trinity College opened its Dialog Schools Under-19 Rugby campaign in style, recording a commanding 55/12 win over Lumbini College at Pallekele, despite fielding what was largely a second-string line-up.

Resting several frontline players, Trinity still showed their depth and structure, running in eight tries while keeping the visitors under constant pressure. From the outset, the hosts controlled territory and possession, displaying sharp handling and disciplined phase play.

They went into the halftime break with a comfortable 27/5 lead, already asserting dominance.

The tries were shared across the squad, with Rithika Weragama, Ammar Faizal, Evin Jayasena, Maduranga de Silva, Hamza Abdeen, Nahil Jayah, skipper Shan Althaf, and Achintha Jayasena all crossing the whitewash. Faizal was impressive with the boot, adding six conversions and a penalty to cap off a solid all-round performance taking the kicking duties from Shan Althaf.

Lumbini showed glimpses of resistance through Sachintha Induwara, who accounted for both their tries and added a conversion, but they struggled to contain Trinity’s attacking rhythm.

In another encounter played in the Central Hills, Zahira too had a good start with a close 20/15 win over Kingswood College.

At the short breather, scores were at 10 apiece.

Thurstan College produced one of the biggest upsets of the opening week of the Dialog Schools Under-19 Rugby League, stunning favourites S. Thomas’ College 27-24 in a thrilling Group C clash at the Air Force Ground.

At the short breather, Thurstan led 15/10.

Thurstan took 15 minutes to score first through a Theekshana Munasinghe try. They doubled the score through Tharinda Senarathna to try to take a 10/0 lead. Thomians hit back through Eyan Pereira, who finished off a lovely move, but Thurstan hit back immediately with Zaid Irshad to score in the corner flag. At the stroke of halftime, Thomians scored their second try through Zaydaan Akbar.

The second half once again saw the home team scoring first through Amindu Rajapaksha. Thomians hit back through two quick converted tries from Rometh Wijesinghe and Rehan Warnasuriya. Mayanka Dias converted both for the lads from Mount Lavinia to lead 24/20.

Thurstan scored the winning try through Tharinda Senarathna, scored for Akeesha Pushpakumara to convert and seal the game. Thurstan is coached by Shamly Nawas.

Referee Ishanka Abeykoon controlled the game. (SJ)

– Pix  by Upul Abayasekara