CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – The defending champions Isipathana College will be up against a rejuvenated Royal College outfit when they clash in another Super Round segment fixture on Saturday at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo.
This match will also be played for the Major Milroy Fernando Memorial Trophy, which was donated by Colonel Dudley Fernando in memory of his son, who died in a landmine explosion in Omanthai in January 1986.
Out of the 31 matches played so far, Isipathana lead the series with 15 wins while Royal have won 11 with four games ending in a draw and one fixture declared as null-and-void.
Isipathana had the honour of winning the Trophy in the inaugural year as the lads from Havelock Park led by the dynamic Selvin Sally defeated Royal 11-9 in a thrilling encounter.
Royal took hold of the Trophy for the first time in the series when their 1988 invincible team led by the burly number eight Lasitha Gunaratne triumphed by a convincing margin of 24-9.
Unbeaten Isipathana has been the team to beat this season as they have once again displayed a great amount of determination on the field to top the points table with a maximum of 36 points from six successive victories.
However, Royal have got back to their winning formula, and they will be all fired-up after their historic 27-17 triumph over the traditional rivals Trinity last week, which enabled them to retain the Bradby Shield for a record seventh year in-a-row.
Therefore, this will be a stern test for Isipathana as they look to clear their first hurdle in the Super Round segment before taking on St. Peter’s in their league tournament decider next week at Bambalapitiya.
Royal, of course, will start the game trailing by 10 points from their opponents but they would like to keep the momentum and add more silverware by regaining the Trophy, which they last won in 2018.
Therefore, Isipathana will have to make sure that complacency would not creep into their players as until now they have virtually smashed all opponents, while scoring a minimum of four tries in every outing.
