Kandy clears final hurdle to stay unbeaten

Dialog Rugby league 2017/2018

By Shamseer Jaleel

Kandy SC were not at their best but still good enough to pull off a sensational 20-9 win over their closest rivals Havelocks SC in the final first round encounter of the Dialog Inter-Club League which was played under floodlights at Havelock Park.

Kandy forward Heshan Kalhara on the attack

At halftime Havelocks led 6-3. Havies displayed a super brand of forwards rugby in the initial half with Madushanka being omnipresent. They rattled the Kandy forwards through many of their moves but the upcountry forwards settled, regrouped and played cohesive rugby in the latter half through Shehan Pathirana, Sayuru Anthony and Mohamed Yakoob Ali. 

Kandy’s three quarter line made several threatening moves while at the same time not allowing the opposition to cross their line even once in the whole game. The Park Club badly felt the effects of the injury to their leading player Kevin Dixon. Kandy too was without the services of Dhanushka Ranjan due to an ankle injury which will keep him out for another two weeks. Dulaj Perera, Reza Mubarak and Nishon Perera played well for the park club.

In the very first minute Dharmapala tackled a Havies player in the air and was yellow-carded. A Reza Mubarak and Perera penalty gave the Park Club a 6-0 lead. But Nigel Ratwatte, who started ahead of Thilina Wijesinghe, put over the only first half penalty for the Kandy outfit.

Kandy SC 20 pointsHavelocks SC 9 points

After the turnaround Kandy looked a yard faster and their professional approach proved too much for the park club, who were all over the place. 

Former Antonian prop forward Ali, who had a grand game, brushed aside a few Havelocks defenders before  touching down under the posts. Nigel added the extras. Nigel, who played well, scored the next Kandyan try but Mubarak, who was returning from an injury layoff, reduced the deficit through a neat penalty to make it 15-9. 

Havelocks kept on attacking Kandyan territory through some good three-quarter rugby. But Kandy’s defence stood strong. Surprisingly their skipper Gayan Weeraratne was not playing to his usual high standards. He dropped many passes and missed cover tackles. However, Lavanga Perera, Roshan Weeraratne, Nigel Ratwatte and Richard Dharmapala all came up big for Kandy. Kandy finished off the game with a sweeping three-quarter move that ended with Dharmapala scoring.

CH edges out Navy

CH&FC edged out Navy 27-24 in a thriller. The sailors led 12-10 after the initial half. Both teams dished out a superb brand of running rugby. Once again the difference between the two teams was St. Anthony’s College schoolboy Samuel Maduwantha. 

He was excellent in defence, attack and his touch kicks claimed many metres for the CH outfit to attack their opponent’s territory in the latter half. CH&FC scored their tries through Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Sasanka Ariyaratne and Samuel Maduwantha while Maduwantha put over all three conversions, a penalty and a drop goal.

For Navy, Dulanjana Wijesinghe, Mohamad Abzal, Adeesha Weerathunga and Buddima Piyaratne scored with Thilina Weerasinghe putting over two conversions.

CR handcuff Police

CR&FC finished round one as expected, claiming a bonus point win to beat lowly-placed Police 53-13.

Tharinda Ratwatte (2), Skipper Kavindu Perera (2), Kokila Sampanthaperuma (2), Aveesha Heenpalla and Hafeez Adahan scored for CR. Ratwatte put over five conversions and one drop goal. National youth player Wajid Fawmy scored the only try for the Cops with Sandesh Jayawickrama putting over the conversion and the two penalties.

Army edge out Air Force

Army pulled off a dramatic victory, coming from behind to beat Air Force 33-32.

At halftime Air Force led 22-12. The second round will start after the break for Christmas with Kandy all out to enjoy the lead but five other teams - CH, Havelocks, Navy, Army and CR - all in a close tussle. Air Force and Police are already out of the race.