Kandy remain unbeaten

Buwanka Udanguma on the mve for Kandy

Wilwara touches down for Kandy

By Shamseer Jaleel

Defending league champions Kandy Sports Club put an end to the unbeaten run of Havelock Sports Club when they beat them by 31 points (4 tries, 4 conversions, 1 penalty) to 21 points (3 tries, 3 conversions) at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium yesterday.

Kandy led 21-7 at halftime and remained the only unbeaten team in the league so far.

Havies’ forwards controlled the game well in the initial half with some powerful play from Sharo Fernando and Dushmantha Priyadharshana, who stood out for the Park Club. Kandy needed to defend from within their own territory for most of the game’s first 15 minutes which was unusual for them. But they did get out of their zone, attacking through their powerful three quarters. Dharmapala, Wilwara and Ranjan stood out for them with ample support coming in from the base from Roshan Weeraratne who stood out both in attack and defence. In forwards play, Sayuru Anthony, Shehan Pathirana and Buwanaka Udangamuwa stood out for the upcountry outfit with rock solid defence and an equally good attack which split the opposition across all parts of the park. For the Park Club, Sithum Peiris and Shashan Mohamed stood out with some powerful moves.

The game got out of control, with five yellow cards issued by the referee with Havelocks securing three of them while Kandy accounted for two. The first scrum of the game came in to play only in the 27th minute of the game with continuous forward play went into more than five phases on most occasions.

Kandy drew first blood in the eighth minute of the game when their number 8 Buwanaka Udangamuwa powered his way through for a try. Fullback Thilina Wijesinghe added the extra two points to take an early lead for Kandy. It took another five minutes for Buwanaka to go over for his second try of the game. Thilina added the extras. Kandy, who attacked through their fast-paced three quarter line, touched down through their speedy winger Anurudha Wilwara coming back after two weeks’ rest. Thilina added the extras to take the score to 21-0. It took 28 minutes for the park club to score their first points through Sithum Peiris. Reza Mubarak added the extra points.

After the turnaround Kandy touched down through Buwanaka, who completed a hat-trick of tries while Thilina put over a penalty. Meanwhile, Havies scored their tries through Dushmantha Priyadharshana and Dinuk Amarasinghe. Both were converted by Reza Mubarak. The referee for the game was Charlie Brown (Singapore).

Kandy will travel down to Welisara to play the Sailors next weekend which will be their last first round encounter.