Hard-fought win for Kandy

Kandy had to fire on all cylinders in order to overcome a spirited Police outfit in Nittawela last weekend.

Kandy, who led 17-9 at halftime, scored an equal number of points in the second half but Police failed to score though playing good rugby in patches. 

Kandy’s forwards looked a yard slower at breakdown points which saw a number of turnovers favouring the cops. At the three quarter line Kandy dominated through some threatening moves but Police were rock solid most of the time. 

Police fullback Rajitha Sansoni opened scoring for the visitors with a penalty. Kandy bounced back soon after through centre Kanchana Ramanayake, who dummied his way to score under the posts for Thilina Wijesinghe to add the extra two points. Then the next five minutes saw one penalty each by Sansoni and Wijesinghe to take the score to 10-6 in favour of Kandy. Kandy increased their lead through a Fazil Marija try.  Wijesinghe was on target with the kick at goal. Police reduced the score at the stroke of halftime when Sansoni was on target with a penalty kick for the cops.

After the turnaround, the upcountry outfit scored through Roshan Weeraratne, Shehan Pathirana and Richard Dharmapala. Ganuka Dissanayake (forward) and Kanchana Ramanayake (centre) were injured with Ramanayake’s injury likely to keep him away for at least two weeks. 

Though Kandy walked away with a bonus point win they will have Navy (away) and two tough home games against Havies and CR&FC to overcome in order for them to defend their title. For Kandy, Marija, Ranjan and Dharmapala played well. The Police outfit was supported by Radheesha Seneviratne and Musheen Faleel, with both being outstanding in defence and attack. Referee Dinka Peiris officiated the game.

Havies continue their 

winning streak

Havelocks under new Head Coach Ronny Ibrahim continued their unbeaten run when they outclassed CH&FC 48-5 last weekend. Havies played this encounter without senior players Sudharshan Muthuthanthri and Sharo Fernando who were rested while Mithun Hapugoda was suspended for one game.

Havelocks took a 31-5 lead at halftime with the game played in wet conditions where the ball handling was tough for both sides. Havelocks made more handling errors than their opponents. Havies scored through Dixon, Dulaj, Vimukthi, Madushanka and Shenal while Dulaj converted four of them. CH&FC’s try was scored by Kasun Srinarth. This game was controlled by Ajith Bandara who made his debut as a referee at the top division of club rugby.

Navy edges out Army in thriller

Army was unlucky for a second time when they were edged by Navy 24-25 in a tense battle at the racecourse grounds last weekend. This was the second time Army lost by a single point after falling earlier to CR&FC.

At halftime Navy led 20-10. Heading into the last five minutes of the game, Navy’s Buddima Piyaratne made a superb break covering near 50 meters to get play into Army’s 22. Chanaka Chandimal received the ball and chipped a kick for Lee Keegal to go to the corner for a sensational winning try.  For Army, Hapugaskumbura, Jayalal and Ariyapala touched down with Salinda converting three of them and putting over one penalty while for Navy, Keegal (2) and Wijesinghe scored tries with Wijesinghe converting two of them and putting over a penalty. Chandimal also recorded an excellent drop goal.(SJ)