Forwards dominance drives Havies to commanding win

Monday, 16 February 2026 01:58 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Havies hooker Azmir Fajudeen held by a CH player

– Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe

Havelock Sports Club produced a commanding second-half surge to overwhelm CH & FC 50/17 in their Inter-Club Rugby League 2025/2026 encounter, which concluded at the Racecourse Ground yesterday.

At the short breather, Havies led 19/17.

The game, which was played for the Y.C. Chang Challenge Trophy, was well contested in the initial half, with both forwards playing their hearts out. Once again, their forwards were omnipresent, with Azmir Fajudeen, the former Royal hooker turning out for the Park Club in his 100th game, stood out, along with former Peterite player Abdullah Faiz. They were well supported by nippy Mohamed Rifan and Samuel Maduwantha controlling the game beautifully, getting on to peak form in the end.

CH drew first blood in the 8th minute of the game through a Pulasthi Dissanayake try and Abdul Haadi conversion, but Havies hit back soon after through a Vunaki Waqanibau try and Samuel Maduwantha conversion. A few minutes later, Chatura Dilshan found the try line with Maduwantha on target for the Park Club. But CH hit back through a skipper Janidu Dilshan try and Haadi conversion to come on to equal terms at 14 apiece. There was time for a Jayathu Rajarathna try and Haadi penalty for CH to take a short breather at 19/17.

After the turnaround, Havies scored through Azmir Fajudeen, Janidu Fernando, and Jayathu Rajarathna, with the conversions taken by Nabeel Yahya and Fajudeen, while Maduwantha had a field day putting over three more second-half penalties plus a neat drop goal.

Credit must go to their Head Coach Saliya Kumara and his forwards, whose relentless physicality and discipline transformed a tight contest into a one-sided finish.

The Referee was Dechdanai Wongyeun (Thailand). – [SJ]