All-Island Milo Knockout Championship

Isipathana optimistic while
Thomians gritty

By M Naushad Amit

Can Isipathana strike back?

Isipathana will hope to strike back with sweet revenge as they take on the mighty S. Thomas’ XV in the final of the All-Island U-20 Milo Knockout Championship scheduled to work off at Royal College Sports Complex this Saturday (July 18) at 4.30pm. This is the third successive year Isipathana will feature in a Milo Knockout final and their coach Shamly Nawaz hopes not to take any risks in a crucial game where they get a second chance of beating a strong team like S. Thomas’. In the recently concluded inter-school league competition S. Thomas’ beat Isipathana by 28-12 in a second half rally that has been a trademark for the Mt. Lavinia lads.
To enter the final, Isipathana had to do much hard work than they have expected to beat Wesley by 29-5 two days back. But Nawaz is hopeful that his boys will grab the opportunity of striking back in the third occasion where Isipathana has made it to a knockout final. “We faced probably the greatest challenge of the season against Wesley who played their hearts out. It was not an easy win I must say. Playing against the challenge of Wesley and winning the crucial semifinal gave us the momentum to regroup back as a unit against S. Thomas’ in the final,” Nawaz said.
The last occasion Isipathana won the knockout title was in year 2002 and the team this year hopes not to repeat the same result that previous teams of last two years did. According to Nawaz Isipathana will commence their training sessions today after a hard day’s work on Monday where few of their players sustained injuries. “There might be a few changes depending on the recovery of the players who are injured in the match against Wesley. We will decide on that once we get back for training today. Until then nothing can be finalized,” he added.
Looking back at their performance against S. Thomas’ in the league encounter weeks ago, Isipathana played their usual game which is fast and running rugby. But could not succeed against a strong Thomian second half rally and at the end lost the game. Nawaz was optimistic that Isipathana would never look at repeating the same mistake over and over again. “In the league match S. Thomas’ won the game against us by playing a hardy game in the latter parts of the encounter. We have identified that and planned according to their playing style. Other than a final this will be a second chance for us to beat S. Thomas’ in the same season. We will make sure not to repeat the same mistakes again this Saturday. There might be a few changes in the side but we are hoping to play the same team with our usual game plan. Hopefully the encounter will be very tight and close,” said Nawaz further who hopes to make the finishing touches in a comeback final.
S. Thomas’ who are on the verge of winning the Milo Knockout championship after a lapse of 15 years will be hoping to continue their winning spree this Saturday against Isipathana. Losing only in their season’s opening match in the inter-school league tournament against the champion Royal side, S. Thomas’ are hopeful that they are in a very good position to win the knockout trophy. “This year we were very unfortunate in the league championship. We lost only against Royal and they remained unbeaten in the entire tournament. Finally we had to settle as league runners-up. But we have a very good opportunity of winning the knockout championship this year. So far things have been good for us and hope to continue the winning habit this Saturday,” said Jeewan Gunathilleke the S. Thomas’ coach.
But in the semifinal the Thomains had to work hard to earn a crucial 36-26 win against an improved St. Anthony’s outfit last Sunday. They committed too many mistakes that were never seen in the league tournament but never changed their playing pattern which is a positive aspect. “We lacked practices during the past week or so as most of the players were given the time to prepare for their examinations. The boys played positively though that is not an excuse for the performance in the semifinal. We are thinking of the knockout final very seriously and we have tightened up our grip for the game. We will not take this game lightly,” added Gunathilleke.
Gunathilleke spoke of the improvement Isipathana has shown during the weeks and thinks the Milo final will be a stiff encounter. “They have improved a lot and so have we. Nothing will be easy for both teams in a final as this. We have not commenced our training yet but when we meet today will decide on the final set up. There could be a few changes in the back line and apart from it others will remain the same. Could expect a tough and good final this Saturday,” he further added.
Before the final of the Milo Trophy, the finals of the Premier and Chaiman’s Trophy will be played at the same venue. The knockout tournament is organized by Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and is sponsored by Milo.
The three finals to be played at Royal College Sports Complex on Saturday (July 18)
Chairman’s Trophy: Royal, Panadura vs St. Benedict’s at 1.00pm
Premier Trophy: CWW Kannangara MV vs Prinnce of Wales’ at 2.30pm
Milo Trophy: S. Thomas’ vs Isipathana at 4.15pm