Kandy overcome Police’s fierce resistance

Monday, 19 November 2018 00:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel

Kandy had to fire on all cylinders to overcome Police SC by 32 points (4 tries, 3 conversions, 2 penalties) to 23 points (3 tries, 1 conversion, 2 penalties) to win their interclub rugby encounter played at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium yesterday.

At halftime Kandy led 17-10. The game was evenly contested, with Police holding the edge in forwards play. They were quick to the loose ball and got plenty of turnovers. Kandy never expected Police to come so close and put up a brave effort. Kandy’s Ranjan was unstoppable, breaking free with his usual lightning-fast pace.

Yakoob Ali, Roshan Weeraratne, Buwanka Udangamuwa and Shehan Pathirana stood out for the upcountry lads. Police, who were omnipresent, with some powerful play from Vageesha Weerasinghe who scored two magnificent tries. The Cops came close and even led 18-17 later in the second half. But Kandy was too good, using their three-quarter line to score tries and win with a bonus point.

Police played well in the initial half and almost scored in the third minute. After a sweeping three-quarter move, Niroshan Silva dropped the ball after crossing the Kandy line. Kandy SC fullback Thilina Wijesinghe put over a 40-metre penalty to open the scoring for the defending champions. The Cops, who had other ideas, equalised soon through Sachith Silva’s boots. Ranjan scored his first try for Kandy, dummying his way through. Thilina was accurate in the conversion.

Kandy went further ahead through a sweeping three-quarter move, ending in Ranjan being unmarked to score under the posts. Thilina added the extra two points to take a 17-3 lead. Police scored their first try through their flanker Weerasinghe. Silva converted to have the score reading 10-17 at halftime.

After the turnaround, Silva missed a penalty but later on converted one to reduce the gap to 13-17. Police went into the lead for the first time in the game when Gihan Silva went over for a try. But the lead was short-lived as Ranjan scored his hat-trick and pushed Kandy into the lead at 22-18.

Kandy scored next through a forwards rush when Yakoob Ali powered his way through with Arshard Jamaldeen adding the extras to take a 29-18 lead for Kandy. But Police, who never gave up, scored through their flanker Weerasinghe at the right corner flag. Jamaldeen had time for one penalty kick for Kandy. The referee for the game was Sarath Madugalle. The Match Commissioner was Kavinda Jayasena.